The Unintended
by Wired Witch
Summary: After a traumatic event onboard a ship in need of rescue, Harper comes away with more than emotional scars.
1. The Outset

TITLE: The Unintended

SUMMARY: After a traumatic event onboard a ship in need of rescue, Harper comes away with more than emotional scars.

WARNINGS: Some violence and mild swearing

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: You may have read this elsewhere, you may not have. It's a complete story so with any luck the updates will be frequent :D Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER ONE - The Outset

"The worst enemies are the ones that aren't seen until it's too late."

G.T.A Otaku

CY 2004

* * *

It was a slow day. But everyone on the Andromeda's crew knew that slow days were to be savoured, because they were almost always a rare break from risking their lives and saving whatever galaxy they were in at the time. So they enjoyed it while it lasted. Unfortunately, it rarely lasted.

Dylan, Harper, Tyr and Rommie arrived in Command where Trance and Beka were already waiting. "What have you got?" Dylan asked.

"Ship in distress," Andromeda's holo avatar reported. "I'm not detecting any power to the engines. The ship is drifting towards an uninhabited planet and will skim the atmosphere in 27 minutes. She'll break up if she continues on her path."

"Life signs?" Beka inquired.

"Just one," Andromeda informed her. This information surprised everyone.

"For a ship that size? No way. Something's not right," Harper commented.

Tyr was quick to offer a possible explanation. "The ship is out of control, there was probably an accident of some kind."

"Or someone went insane and killed everybody," Harper added.

"You've been reading those horror novels again, haven't you?" Trance said, not taking him seriously.

"It's called The Outset," Trance mentioned as she stared at the image of the ship onscreen. "We need to get the survivors out."

"Alright, we're going onboard. Trance, Tyr, Beka you're with me. Rommie, I need you to stay here and monitor the situation. I don't want any surprises," Dylan ordered.

The four of them left to kit up for the mission.

"I'll just stay here then!" Harper called after them.

Rommie smiled at him. "You didn't want to go anyway."

"That's not the point. It's nice to be asked," Harper complained.

Dylan leaned back round the door. "On second thoughts, Harper, come with me. We may need you to take a look at their engines," he said, and his face disappeared round the wall again.

Rommie smirked. "You'd better get going."

Harper gave her a wry smile, grabbed his tool belt and left Command.

* * *

"Hey, throw in some zombies and this is the setting for 'Zombies Attack Onboard the Apepolai'," Beka joked, remembering the premise of one of Harper's favourite cheesy horror holo novels.

"That's not funny," Harper snapped back. The ship was scary enough as it was, with dim emergency lights casting shadows every which way, and a chill that crawled over the skin, not to mention the silence that hung in the air. The group made their way through the corridors of the ship. It looked like a research vessel of some kind. Most of the doors were sealed shut, probably due to whatever caused the emergency power to kick in.

"Dylan..." Beka called. There was a body in ahead of her in the corridor, a man. As they drew silently closer it became obvious he had been electrocuted by a nearby exposed panel, which was still sparking.

"Rommie," Dylan called, opening a com line. "Can you give us a specific location for the life signs?"

"No, all I know is that someone is alive on that ship," Rommie explained, monitoring from Command.

"Okay, Harper, the engine room is up ahead, see if you can get them started. We need to turn this ship around," Dylan ordered. "Beka, Tyr, you search the lower decks, make as much noise as you can, hopefully the survivor will come to you. Trance and I will take this deck and the higher levels. Keep comms open."

After the plan was decided, the group dispersed. Harper cast a lingering look at the corpse and shivered. He headed for the engine rooms, mumbling as he went. "Yeah, split up, what a great idea. Dark, scary ship and you wanna split up."

The engine rooms were just as silent as deserted as the rest of the ship. He booted up a control panel with the portable power source he carried in his tool belt and began checking for damage.

A noise echoed through the room, from behind him. Harper yelped when he turned to see someone standing in the shadows. He jumped five feet in the air, then relaxed slightly when he saw there was no immediate danger. A blonde woman took a step forward. She looked terrible. Her hair was matted and dirty, along with her face. Her eyes were bloodshot, and sore, and it was a moment before Harper recognised her.

"Shyla?" Harper asked. Was it really her? He had known Shyla from the Nemetona, a welfare transport that Andromeda had escorted through Nietzschean territory. She was a good person. They got on well, and even kept in touch occasionally. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know why," Shyla said quietly. She clearly didn't recognise him. "There's no reason. No reason."

"No reason for what? What happened to the ship?" Harper asked calmly, but got no response. "It's Harper, do you remember me?"

Shyla was barely aware of his presence. "It's gone. I don't know where it's gone...oh god..." She started to sob.

"It's gonna be okay, you can come back to Andromeda with me, it's all going to be fine now, okay?" Harper told her.

Shyla continued to sob uncontrollably. Harper could tell she was close to breaking point. "Okay guys, you can stop looking for the survivor, I found her," Harper said into his comm. He began to approach her cautiously.

"It's gone...it's gone..." Shyla muttered almost incoherently. She stepped forward and

Harper froze when he saw she had a pulse gun.

"Shyla, why don't you put the gun down and come back to the Andromeda, huh?" Harper asked softly. He really wanted the others to come and get him, but for now he was on his own. "You can take a nice shower, have something to eat and..."

"You don't understand. They had it too, they lost it..." Shyla began to laugh manically. "They lost it!" Her laughter blurred into hysterically sobbing. "I lost it," she whispered. She put the gun onto the highest setting, pointed it into the side of her head and fired.

* * *

End of Chapter one 


	2. Before It Gets Better

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Thanks for the kind words :D

* * *

CHAPTER TWO - Before It Gets Better

"'When' and 'where' are easy. 'Why' and 'how' will drive you

to the edge of your sanity"

Retuin-Namne - Philosopher

CY 2901-2931

* * *

"Harper!" Beka called over the comm. When she heard the gunshot she broke into a run. 

Harper fell backwards. If he hadn't have hit the wall he'd have fallen right over. He was covered in Shyla's blood. It was on his clothes and skin, in his _mouth. _The urge to retch was surpassed only by the shock that assaulted his system, which was plainly visible on Harper's face.

Beka and Tyr came running in, weapons drawn. Both warriors checked out the scene and quickly realised there was no danger. Tyr crouched down next to the body.

"Oh my god," Beka uttered as she turned around. But seeing Harper dismayed her even more. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened?"

Harper wasn't even aware anyone else had entered the room. He was frozen in time, staring at the body, his only movement his trembling hands.

"Harper, look at me," Beka ordered, and moved in front of his line of vision.

Harper finally returned to his own body, but it rebelled, and his legs gave way under him. He slid down the wall.

"Trance, get here now," Beka called over the comm, thinking that Harper was hurt, even though they had only heard one shot.

Tyr was deep in his own thoughts. Suicide. He couldn't understand it. When it came down to it, life was all that anyone had. Tyr got up and glanced at Harper. The boy looked a mess. He knew that there was no injury to the little man...physically. He showed the classic signs of shock. He offered no words of sympathy, however, as deep down he knew Harper would recover. He always did. He was a strong one, that much he had learned about the engineer.

"Harper, look at me," Beka demanded. "Look at me," she repeated, placing her hands on his shoulders.

Harper's mind finally put its defences back up. "I'm good," he breathed, then put the fake smile on his face, the one that meant he was anything but okay. "I'm good."

"Stand up, we're going back now, okay?"

Trance and Dylan hurried in at that point. Trance immediately went over to Harper when she saw the blood covering him.

Beka helped Harper up and Trance hovered around him, but he dismissed their attention with a wave of his hand. "I'm okay," he insisted. "I'm good." Even as he spoke he knew it was a lie. His eyes were still transfixed on Shyla's body. A moment ago she was person, now she was just a body. "It was Shyla...from the Nemetona," he said quietly.

Trance recognised the name and turned to look at the mangled face of a woman she had once discussed in depth with about medical ethics and philosophies. She and Harper had travelled onboard the Nemetona while she was being escorted and got to know a number of the crew. Trance couldn't look for long. How could this have happened? Why would Shyla, a stable, intelligent woman kill herself?

"Is everything alright over there Dylan?" Rommie asked from the Andromeda.

"We're coming home. There are no survivors," was Dylan's grim reply.

"What about the ship? There is less than 15 minutes until she reaches the atmosphere."

"I can fix it," Harper suddenly said. No-one looked particularly thrilled with the idea, considering what he had just witnessed.

"Harper, it's okay, you don't have to do this," Trance said, putting a comforting hand on his arm.

"I can fix it," Harper repeated, nodding. He went over to the same panel he was checking before Shyla had shown up, and tapped on a few buttons. He worked with silent precision, his hands gliding across the keypads. Soon the whole ship lit up, and the engines came to life again. "We've stopped. I had to divert the power from life support, so we should get out of here before it fails," Harper explained quietly.

Dylan was both impressed and worried for his engineer, but was at a loss. "Let's go."

* * *

It didn't take long to get back to Andromeda. Dylan had ordered everyone to get cleaned up and reconvene in Command. 

Harper found himself in his quarters, in his bathroom, staring at his hands. They were still covered in drying blood, which cracked between his fingers and in the lines of his palms. Then in a burst of movement he turned the taps on full blast, then the shower. As the room filled with steam from the scalding hot water, Harper took off his stained shirt and trousers, but found himself wondering what to do with them. He couldn't wear them again, he couldn't keep them. It was a trivial thing to be wondering, but he stood naked for a few moments just thinking about it. Finally he folded them up neatly and put them in a corner, that way he could decide later.

Harper stepped into the shower, and the water turned a rusty colour as the blood began to rinse from his skin.

* * *

About an hour later Andromeda was still lingering in the system. Dylan and the others were trying to work out how a research vessel full of the most intelligent doctors and scientists were found in the state Andromeda they were. Trance, Dylan and Rommie had returned to The Outset with breathing apparatus and the equipment they needed to pry open the research labs doors. 

It was a morbid task. Each door they opened revealed more bodies. The crew. The cause of death appeared to differ for each person, but there were no accidents. Each crew-member was either killed or committed suicide, just like Shyla.

Trance had gathered some blood, skin and tissue samples to try and piece together what happened. The running theory was that an experiment went terribly wrong. It would take a while to figure out the details.

"How is the investigation going?" Dylan asked when he appeared in med-deck. "Did you make any progress?"

"Yes," Trance replied, but it was apparent by her tone that something was wrong.

"I've analysed blood samples from eleven crew-members so far, each from different places on The Outset. They all have one thing in common, in all species."

"Which is?" Dylan prompted.

"A virus. But not just any ordinary virus. The more I analysed it the more I didn't like what I was looking at. It's in the blood of every crew-member I've tested so far and I'm guessing everyone else onboard that ship."

"So you're saying The Outset crew died because of a virus?" Dylan asked, confused. It didn't add up.

"No, I'm saying they died because of what the virus did to them."

Dylan waited for her to elaborate.

"It's human-engineered, a designer virus. It doesn't affect the body as much as it affects the mind. Dylan, the virus drove them all insane."

Dylan realised that they could be in serious trouble. He kicked himself. Why hadn't he ordered a quarantine? Why hadn't he taken more precautions? He forced himself to ask the question he knew he wasn't going to like the answer to. "How is the virus transmitted?"

Trance didn't answer him, but her eyes told him everything he didn't want to know.

"The blood," Dylan surmised.

Trance nodded morosely. "The blood."

* * *

End of Chapter Two 


	3. The Blood

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Thanks again for the feedback, it makes me smile :D This is my favourite chapter of the story mwahaha

* * *

CHAPTER THREE The Blood

"Expect the unexpected and it isn't unexpected any more. The truth is, you can never expect a god damned thing that happens."

General Lucas Taylor

CY 568

* * *

Harper dangled his legs over the side of the bed in med-deck. He was silent, which only made Trance worry even more. Beka was also pacing up and down the room, having heard that Harper was not only in all likelihood infected with a virus, but that it could drive him insane. Dylan, Rommie and even Tyr had made an appearance, but Trance quickly ushered them away after seeing how uncomfortable Harper was with so many people surrounding him. Beka was the one who refused to leave. 

Harper seemed to be taking the news strangely calmly. Trance wasn't sure if he was still in shock or he had contracted the virus and it was affecting his system.

"What are the chances that he's contracted the virus?" Beka asked, biting at her nail.

Trance glanced over at Harper, who looked like he wasn't even interested in the question, let alone the answer. He wore a sad, pained expression. It wasn't one Trance liked to see on any of the people she cared about. "I can't be sure. Even if the test comes back negative, I have no way of knowing how fast it can become apparent, or even how the symptoms would manifest themselves."

Beka took in the information and tried to deal with it. She needed to handle things, find possible solutions and courses of action. It was what she did. If she stopped to actually think about what could happen, the worst case, she wouldn't be able to function. She looked over at Harper. A rogue thought entered her head. _He was covered in that woman's blood. _She dismissed it and resumed her role. "It wasn't your fault," she said, reading his mind.

Harper looked up and wondered how she knew.

"You did everything you could, you told us," Beka continued. "It wasn't your fault."

Harper wasn't convinced. "I know," he lied. "She killed herself. I was talking to her, and then she was just dead." The words sounded unbelievable even as he spoke them. He looked down to the floor, shook his head and hopped off the bed.

"Where are you going?" Trance asked quickly. What she really meant was 'you can't seriously expect me to let you leave this room without my say so.'

"I can't stay here and wait to find out if I've got some stupid virus, which I haven't, by the way. I'm fine. I feel fine, so I'll be in machine shop four when you need me."

Trance and Beka could only exchange worried looks as Harper left the room.

* * *

On the Command deck, Andromeda reported what had transpired on med-deck. Dylan was disturbed by the news, and at how Harper was taking it. "I should have seen this. I should have prepared. Now Harper has to suffer because of my mistake." 

"I scanned the air for toxins, it was clean," Rommie told him. "If there was any risk, I would have detected it. There was no way to know. And it's not confirmed that Harper is suffering at all," she finished, but regretted it. He might not have the virus, but he had seen someone, someone he _knew _commit suicide. Of course he was suffering.

* * *

Harper returned to his quarters before going to the machine shop. It felt like there was still blood on his hands, he needed to wash them again. As soon as he entered he noticed the folded clothes in corner, a symbol of the moment. He couldn't even look at them, because they drew his mind back to The Outset. Running his hand through his hair, Harper went into the shower room and made a mental note to burn the blood-stained reminders.

* * *

Trance hated waiting, because she had the time to search through possibilities. When a situation was as emotionally-charged as this one, her vision was often clouded and erratic to experience, so she tried to refrain from closing her eyes, and busied herself with tidying medicines and equipment. 

Soon a beeping sound from the far side of the room drew back her attention. The results from Harper's blood test were ready. She steadily walked over to the readout panel and prayed to whoever would listen that they were negative.

* * *

Harper made it to machine shop four with slightly sore hands, but before he could find something to occupy his mind, Trance's voice sounded over the comm. 

"Harper, please report to med-deck," she said.

All Harper needed to know was in that sentence. He had the virus. It wasn't just the fact that Trance would not have asked him to go to med-deck if he was fine, but because he could read her like a book. She liked to think she was this enigmatic mystery with secrets that would make anyone's head spin, but the truth was, Harper had her figured out. "No, Trance. I want you to tell me now," he demanded. "I'm infected, right?"

"Please come back to med-deck," Trance asked again, although this time it was more of a plea. She didn't want to tell him like this.

"Is there anything you can do about it yet?" Harper asked bluntly.

There was a pause. "...No," she replied. "Not yet, but I'm working on it."

"Then you work on it," Harper told her. "I'll be right here when you're done," he finished, and cut off the communication. "Rommie, can you give me some privacy please?"

"I'm sorry Harper, you're on medical watch. No privacy mode," Andromeda replied apologetically.

Harper was annoyed but wasn't in the mood to argue. He began to bury himself in a previously abandoned project, in an attempt to take his mind off things. It was effectively a portable 'answer machine'. He had been developing it for some time now. It was meant to be able to answer any engineering question and speculate on theories too. So far Harper had only managed to input half the information he wanted, then the memory capacitors blew and he had to start from scratch. Then he pretty much gave up when he realised he didn't need it. He was, after all, a genius.

This genius was now reduced to a mental numbness. Harper was conscious of the fact that he was avoiding thinking about what happened, and what might happen to him. But despite his efforts everything Trance had said about the effects of the virus came creeping back. It was actually quite vague now that he thought about it. The end of the infection was obvious - become a psychopathic murderer, kill himself or both. He remembered Shyla in her last moments. _'I lost it' _she had said. He wondered what she was talking about. Maybe it was meaningless rambling, one of the symptoms.

Harper swore as his concentration wandered and a delicate piece of the machine broke off in his hand. He regained his composure and leaned over the table to see that it just needed soldering. Without looking, he reached out to where the tool was.

The soldering iron moved across the table and into his hand.

* * *

End of Chapter Three 


	4. The Reckoning

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Aw you guys are just swell :D Thanks for reading, here's the next chapter just for you.

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR The Reckoning

"The greatest unrealised potential of the human mind is a complete mystery - because no-one has ever realised it."

Dran Sekwentia, Lucier Texts

CY 1454

* * *

Harper didn't even register it at first. It seemed like such a natural thing to have done, but then the realisation dawned on him, and he stopped what he was doing. Freaked out, he dropped the soldering iron and stepped back from the table. He stared at the tool and wondered what the hell had just happened,_ if_ it just happened. Maybe he was asleep. Maybe the virus was working fast, maybe he was already insane. 

No, it was real, he felt it...what had he felt? He wanted the tool and it had moved into his hand. But that was impossible. Harper cagily held up his arm. Why was even trying this? It can't have happened, it wasn't possible. _So where's the harm in trying? _Harper's inner voice whispered. He bit his lip as he opened his hand.

"Harper, Dylan is holding a debriefing and requests your presence," Rommie said, interrupting whatever was, or wasn't about to happen in the machine shop. Harper lowered his hand and shook off the ridiculous thoughts that were going through his head. It was insane. Or maybe he was.

* * *

In Command, Dylan was going through the logs they managed to extract from The Outset, before heading to the debrief. A lot of them were protected by encryption codes. They weren't just any codes, however. They were High Guard codes. Top level. Whatever research was going on aboard that ship, it was guaranteed not many people knew about it, which meant in turn that there was probably no-one that could help Harper. Trance would do her best but she had to start from scratch effectively, and that just wasted valuable time. 

Dylan was about to leave when Andromeda stopped him. "Captain, a ship is approaching," she told Dylan, just as the ship appeared on her sensors.

"Who is it?" Dylan asked, immediately tensing out of habit. It wasn't his fault most of the ships they came across tried to shoot at them.

Andromeda checked her readings. "It's the Barbell," she replied. Dylan knew the name. It was another High Guard class ship. "We're receiving a communication."

"Onscreen."

An older man appeared on the screen. "Captain Hunt, I am Admiral Taylor, I understand you are currently investigating The Outset."

"News travels fast," Dylan said suspiciously. No reports had been sent to Commonwealth headquarters yet, so how did anyone know about it? "What can I do for you?"

"We realised something was wrong when the regular reports suddenly ceased. The crew of The Outset were performing some classified research. I'm afraid that research is classified to you as well Captain," Taylor said authoritatively. "We need all the logs you may have and anything you took from the ship."

"Alright, but it's not going to be that simple. A member of my crew has been infected with something The Outset crew were developing."

It was clear this information had a profound effect on the Admiral. He was visibly shocked. "Are you sure?" he said urgently.

"Yes, I'm sure," Dylan replied, starting to get annoyed. "Why?"

"There's no time to explain, you must give your crewman to us immediately," Taylor said gravely.

"Hand him over, why, what's going on? What aren't you telling me?" Dylan demanded.

Taylor suddenly because quite threatening. "If you refuse to hand over your man, we will come onboard and take him by force."

"Admiral, I am not about to start a fight," Dylan replied calmly. "I just want to know what's going on. I think I'm entitled."

The Admiral was not pleased. "Captain you are making a grave mistake." With that, he abruptly shut off the communication, leaving Dylan bewildered.

"I don't like this," he said as soon as the screen went blank.

"He's an Admiral, Dylan. He must have his reasons," Andromeda told him.

"Well he certainly doesn't have any idea how to ask nicely. Don't let him onboard. Harper's not going anywhere until I get some answers."

* * *

"An Admiral Taylor from The Barbell has arrived trying to cover up something that went on onboard The Outset," Dylan explained to the waiting crew. "When I mentioned that Mr Harper had been infected with something for the ship, he demanded that we hand him over." 

Harper looked afraid. "What? So...you're just gonna let them take me?" he asked. He had been noticeably jittery since he arrived in the debriefing room.

"No, of course not," Dylan said swiftly. "I told the Admiral he's not setting foot onboard this ship until he gives us some information. I want to know what was going on onboard The Outset. In the meantime I want you to stay in med-deck where Trance can monitor you."

Harper had nothing to say, which Dylan took to mean he had no objections. "Now, my access codes were enough to decrypt some of the lower level classified files," he went on. "So far I've only uncovered what looks like general reports on progress, nothing specific. But there are constant references to a 'Project 246.' Trance, did you get a chance to look at those files?"

"Yes," Trance began, though she seemed to do so absent-mindedly, as if she were preoccupied. "The virus was engineered by the research team, but from what I've read there were significant side-effects with each strand they created. They don't go into specifics."

"We need access to the rest of those files," Dylan surmised. As he talked, Harper was trying to stop his hands from shaking, and the others from seeing. He glanced over at Trance, who was usually the first to notice these things, but she was engrossed in a flexi she was reading.

"What's on the flex Trance?" Beka asked, taking the words right out of Harper's mouth.

Trance looked up at Beka, then a guilty glimpse at Harper told him exactly what was on the flexi. Something about the virus. "What does it say?" Harper asked accusingly. He guessed it was about how quickly the virus would begin to show, after all, he was already experiencing hallucinations and knew it was taking effect. At this rate he'd be certifiable by the end of the week.

"It's just some scans," Trance said vaguely but she wasn't fooling anyone.

Harper wasn't about to let it lie. "Can I see it?" he asked, not taking his eyes off her.

"Harper," Dylan warned. He knew Trance had her reasons for keeping whatever was on the flexi to herself, and Harper was pushing her.

"If it's just some scans, I would like to see them," Harper said, getting angry.

"They're not important," Trance insisted.

"Show me!" Harper snapped, and no sooner had he shouted, the flexi was out of Trance's hands and into his.

There was a silence that could rival a Wayist monastery. Everyone was in shock, no more so than Harper. Everyone had seen the same thing that he had...which meant he wasn't insane. Then why did it still feel like it?

"What the hell just happened?" Beka finally asked.

All eyes were on Harper. "Uh...a side-effect?"

* * *

End of Chapter Four 


	5. AngrySinister

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Sorry this one's a bit late, RL bit me on the ass. sigh but thank-you again for the feedback :D

CHAPTER FIVE Angry/Sinister  
"Evil desires only to create chaos. Accept chaos and you are on your way to confronting that evil."  
Reverend Llanly III  
CY 221

* * *

Even Tyr looked stunned as what had just occurred sunk in. Harper shifted uncomfortably in the silence. 

"Trance...you never said anything about the virus doing...that," Dylan finally said.

Trance shook her head. "I had no idea," she said, still in shock.

"No wonder Taylor wants this covered up. This is huge!" Beka declared.

"They actually found a way to create telekinesis? In viral form?" Tyr asked, still in a state of disbelief.

"The ramifications of a discovery like this are staggering," Rommie added.

Harper was listening to the now rampant discussion. "Would you guys just stop?" he said quietly.

"If the High Guard are involved, it was probably designed for military use," Tyr commented.

"It would be useful in combat situations," Rommie agreed.

"STOP!" Harper shouted, and as he did, the flexi in his hand sparked and cracked in two.

Once again there was silence. Harper wished a hole would open and swallow him up. Trance took the liberty of rescuing him. "Come with me to med-deck," she said calmly. "I can take some more scans and we'll figure this out."

Harper didn't say another word, and allowed Trance to lead him away from the staring eyes.

* * *

Dylan, Beka and Tyr were in Command, discussing the situation. Beka shook her head. She didn't blame Harper for snapping like that. The past day had been ridiculously stressful. She wondered what Harper ever did to piss the universe off. 

"Telekinesis..." Rommie stated in disbelief. "It's hard to believe."

"You saw it with your own...sensors," Dylan said. "But I know what you mean," he admitted. "I didn't even think it was possible."

"Many religious groups believe in the higher powers of the mind," Andromeda offered. "The Kol-Tep spend their entire lives trying to achieve them."

"Everyone seems to be forgetting the main issue," Tyr interjected. "The crew of The Outset went insane and killed each other. Despite whatever 'incredible' abilities Harper has gained, it will end badly. He should be quarantined until a cure is found."

"He won't leave med-deck," Dylan agreed. "It's up to Trance what other precautions she imposes."

* * *

In med-deck, Trance was checking scans of Harper's brain and shaking her head. "I don't understand it. Someone engineered this virus to alter the brain and give the infected telekinetic abilities," she said, mainly to herself. "But from what I'm seeing, the telekinesis is just a side-effect..." 

"Some side-effect," Harper commented. He was thinking about his newfound ability. Twice now he had caused things to happen without intending to do it. It had been out of his control. What if he hurt someone? To think, this morning his main problem was where to buy the next case of Sparky and removing that grease stain from his lucky shirt.

"This could only be the beginning..." Trance muttered under her breath.

"Huh?" Harper said, her words failing to reach his ears.

"Nothing," Trance replied quickly. "Nothing."

Harper became irritated - something that was happening a lot more recently. Trance seemed to pick up on it. "So, explain it to me," she said simply.

Harper looked at her. "Explain what?"

"How does it happen, the whole moving things. Do you just...will them?" Trance elaborated. She knew that Harper's telekinetic ability was the result of a virus, but it was such an intriguing talent.

"I don't know. It just sorta...happens," Harper said vaguely. He really didn't have the answers.

Trance picked up a flexi. "Can you make this go over to you?"

"No! I don't want to, Trance. I don't want _this_," he said defensively.

Trance was taken aback. "I'm sorry," she said. "I thought...I mean, you can move things just by thinking about it. It's pretty incredible."

"Yeah, I'll think it's pretty incredible when I'm insane and you're all dead!" Harper said angrily. He started pacing again, holding his hands to his head. "You know, it's just...today I woke up and everything was fine, and now..." he trailed off and sighed, deciding he really didn't want to be with anyone right now. He headed for the door.

"Harper, now where are you going?" Trance called to him. "Dylan said you're supposed to stay here," she tried, upset that she had somehow managed to lose his trust in such a short space of time.

"I need a Sparky, okay?"

"Well let me get you one," Trance insisted, and left Harper alone.

* * *

Back in Command the discussion was still on Harper. 

"No wonder Taylor wants him so much," Beka deduced. "Dylan, you can't let them have him. God knows what they'll do."

"I know," Dylan agreed. "But we are defying direct orders here. The only thing stopping Taylor's men storming the ship is a 24 hour quarantine rule, that stops Harper from being moved until he's declared 'safe for transport'."

"And after that?" Tyr asked.

Dylan was quiet for a moment. "I don't know."

* * *

Harper found himself looking at Trance's scans of him. As he wandered around he noticed a tray of tools on the far side of the room. A rogue thought innocently entered his mind. 

_'You can move things by thinking about. It's pretty incredible.'_

Sure, when you stripped away the impending and inevitable insanity, murder spree and suicide, it _was _a pretty incredible thing. _So why not enjoy it while it lasts? You liked it when it happened before, didn't you?_

These feelings were new to Harper, and he wasn't sure if he liked them or not. Had he enjoyed the feeling? Was it simply the shock that made him fear his new ability? _Only one way to find out..._that little voice called temptation said again. Harper looked at the tools over on the tray. That little voice had gotten him in trouble before. But what if...what if he could _control _it, control the virus. It made sense.

"Okay Harper," he said, justifying his actions to himself. "This is just a trial. You're just testing the waters. Conducting research."

He outstretched his arm and opened his hand. It happened so quickly. A scalpel flew up from the table and shot right through his hand. He yelped in pain as the blade sliced through his palm. He immediately cradled his arm and recoiled at the gruesome wound. He grabbed the handle and pulled it out quickly while the adrenaline would still allow him to. When it finally came free he dropped it on the deck and thrust it away, like someone who suddenly realised they had a spider crawling on their arm.

"Harper, are you alright?" Andromeda, who had been keeping watch, asked. "What happened?"

"Huh? I'm fine," Harper dismissed quickly, though a blind man could have seen that something was wrong. "I'm fine, it's just a scratch," he lied. That was the last time he ever listened to that little voice. He pulled a bandage from one of the drawers and wrapped it around his hand. As he tied it another sharp pain kicked through him. Anger gripped him and he pulled the whole drawer out and thrust it across the room, the other equipment clattering as it hit the deck.

"Harper, calm down, everything's going to be alright," Andromeda told him sincerely.

Harper appreciated her efforts, but he was the only one who knew how wrong she was. He could feel what was going on inside him. He couldn't take control of the virus. The virus was taking control of him.

* * *

Onboard The Barbell stress-levels were rising. Admiral Taylor sat in Command, seething. The crew daren't approach him, but it was Lieutenant Rayne's job to prompt the superior officer. 

"Sir, permission to speak freely," Rayne asked. He was a tall, quite skinny man but what he lacked in build he made up for with a 'flexible' set of morals. He respected authority but it depended who that authority belonged to. In this case he had served under Admiral Taylor for many years and certainly knew his place.

"Say what you want," Taylor replied sharply.

"Sir...why aren't we storming the ship?" Rayne asked, being mindful not to push any boundaries. "Hunt is just riding on protocol, which doesn't really ap-"

Taylor interrupted him before he could go any further. He chose his words carefully and spoke them slowly, so Rayne would understand his meaning. "As far as Captain Hunt goes, protocol is the one thing he can rely on. He feels secure because he knows as a _respected Admiral_ of the High Guard fleet, it is the one thing I am powerless against."

Rayne nodded in understanding and couldn't help a slight smile creep across his bony face.

* * *

End of Chapter Five 


	6. Laws of Possession

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Lots more angst and action on the way :)

CHAPTER SIX - Laws of Possession

"A citizen can only claim ownership to that of their

body. Only the controlling powers (governing body of the state)

can claim ownership of a citizen."

Laws of Possession on Astarte

since CY 345

* * *

Harper looked sheepishly at Trance when she came back into med-deck. She saw the equipment lying over the floor, then Harper's hand.

"Harper! What have you done?" Trance exclaimed as soon as she saw him cradling his hand.

"Just a little accident with a scalpel," he admitted as Trance got down a sterile dressing.

"An accident?" she questioned suspiciously as she treated the wound. "You were trying it out, weren't you?" she ventured correctly.

Harper looked guilty. "I guess it's not as easy doing it on purpose as it is doing it subconsciously."

"I wouldn't worry. You've only had this ability for a short time," Trance told him. "And...what I told you before - I didn't mean that you should think or it as anything than what it is. It's a virus, and it is not good for you, no matter what the side effects are," the golden alien explained. She had been trying to take Harper's mind off his grief and anger by talking about his new talent, but she hadn't meant in any way that he should try and master it. That could have dire consequences.

Harper nodded slightly in agreement. He looked deep in thought for a moment. "Do you think Shyla had it?"

"The telekinesis? It's possible," Trance replied. "Although, the virus seems to be slightly different in each of the samples I tested. It appears to adapt to the individual's brain patterns. I still don't know how to tell what exactly the effects were in any of The Outset's crew." She shook her head. "It's so complex, I'm having trouble breaking it down."

Harper looked into her sparkling eyes, which were, at this point, filled with an apologetic fear. "But...you _can _break it down, right? You can fix me?"

"I wish I could tell you. But I can't see anything clearly right now," Trance told him sorrowfully. "But I'm doing my best."

Harper smiled at her weakly. "That's all I wanted to hear."

* * *

"Dylan, we're getting a communication from the Admiral," Andromeda said in Command.

"Put it onscreen," Dylan ordered.

The grim face of Admiral Taylor appeared on the monitor once again. "Captain, I am not amused by the little quarantine stunt you've pulled."

Dylan feigned innocence. "I'm simply following procedure, Admiral."

"You're smart, but you can't keep up your little stand for much longer. It's only a matter of time before you have to give your man over. Why don't you just save yourself the trouble?"

Beka had been silent up to this point, but she wasn't going to take that kind of crap from anyone, even if he was an Admiral. "You so much as lay a hand on Harper I will break it off," she hissed.

Dylan was watching when the Admiral wavered his attention on something else in the room he was sitting. He knew that look. He was silently giving orders to someone... Dylan was suspicious now. There wasn't really a point to this call, which usually meant it was a stalling tactic.

Sure enough, Holo-Rommie appeared next to the screen. "Dylan, we're being boarded, they've overridden my security commands."

Dylan turned angrily back to the screen where Taylor was now looking smug. "We just needed the name of the infected crewman so I could send his image from the database to my team," he explained cooly. "And I see from my sensor hack that he's...on the medical deck."

Dylan was livid. "You just made a big mistake," he spat, and terminated the comm-line. "Rommie, give me shipwide," he ordered as he made his way to med-deck. "This is the Captain, we're being boarded by uninvited guests. Do _not _harm them, but under no circumstances let them leave with anyone other than who they came here with."

Beka, Tyr, Rommie and Dylan strode through the corridors, as Andromeda continued to keep them apprised of the situation. "The Barbell has downloaded the files from The Outset. The intruders are only one deck below med-deck. They will be there shortly but my security doors should..." she paused, then spoke with more urgency. "They have access to my external command override codes. I'm shutting down...Dylan I'm sorr-" With that, she was gone.

"Son of a bitch!" Beka exclaimed.

Dylan was growing more enraged by the second. Not only did Admiral Taylor have no regard for High Guard protocol, now he was abusing emergency codes to shut down his ship and kidnap a member of his crew. Which reminded him... "Harper, Trance..." he called, before remembering. "Damnit, coms are shut down with the override codes."

"How do you propose we stop them without hurting them?" Tyr asked, before he had to figure it out for himself.

Dylan glanced at him. "I guess we'll figure that out when we get there."

* * *

Trance had just finished cleaning up Harper's blood from the floor and was looking at a sample of it. Shouting from outside drew her from her thoughts.

"You hear that?" Harper asked, and got down from the bed.

Everything after that happened in a blur. The door opened slightly and something rolled across the floor. Harper realised what it was a little too late. The flashbang grenade went off and the blinding light burned their eyes.

Harper could hear what was going on but he was helpless to do anything about it. Why didn't someone warn them? There were lots of them, he could hear their footsteps and their shouts. Somebody grabbed him and he lashed out, but without being able to see, he was quickly subdued.

"Harper!" Trance called, but he couldn't reply. A hand was over his mouth. When he gasped for air something burned his throat and nostrils. He was unconscious in seconds.

* * *

End of Chapter Six 


	7. Something to Someone

TITLE: The Unintended  
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.  
NOTES: I'm off for a couple of days so here's two chapters to keep you going till I get back. Keep the feedback coming :)

CHAPTER SEVEN Something to Someone  
"And Kellen declared over the laughter of Aremisa;  
'I will reclaim that which you have stolen, and be  
fulfilled in knowing that you will pay a greater price'."  
Kremin Sama Testaments 23:4:5  
CY 897

* * *

"Taylor you had NO authority to take a member of my crew!" Dylan bellowed at the monitor when they finally got communications back. Unfortunately the engines were still down and they couldn't pursue the fleeing Barbell.

"Ensuring the safety of classified research and, of course, your crew gave me all the authority I needed to do what I did, Captain," the Admiral replied smugly. "I suggest you don't follow my ship when you regain control of yours. Any action taken to retrieve your crewman and I will personally see to it that you will never command a ship again," he threatened.

"Give me my crewman back and I won't fly this ship up your ass!" Beka yelled at the screen. If Rommie hadn't known of the human tendency to use verbal expressions, she would have been slightly more worried.

"Miss Valentine, please." Taylor scoffed at the crude remark. "Do you think I'm intimidated by you?"

"You should be," Beka scowled.

"I hope I don't see you again, Captain," Taylor said, ignoring Beka's last comment. "If I do, you alone will be responsible for the consequences." He ended the transmission on that remark.

"They're streaming out of the sector," Trance announced from her console.

"Damn it!" Dylan exclaimed and hit the console with his fist.

Tyr was, as always, his naturally calm self. "I assume we are still going after him?" he said.

"Of course we are," Beka replied, and turned to Dylan for confirmation. "Right?"

Dylan hesitated for a split second. The Admiral had disregarded High Guard protocol, which made any threats void in Dylan's book. "Damn right we're going after him."

* * *

Lieutenant Rayne was watching the dialogue with amusement. He admired Taylor's ability to play the game, and play it so well. "Sir, do you expect them to follow?" he wondered.

"They'll follow. Hunt is as predictable as Commonwealth bureaucracy. If he can find us, we'll be ready. For now we will start Mr Harper's training. Inform Dr Gaou of the situation."

Rayne shifted, as he did whenever he didn't agree or understand the Admiral's ordered. "With all due respect sir, what's the point in training him to use his abilities if he isn't under our control?"

"We don't need him under our control. He'll be dead in matter of weeks, maybe even days," Taylor said casually. "We'll deliver him to the Beta team for study. In the meantime we have a perfect opportunity to find out first hand the effects of the virus, and if they can be tuned. I'm putting you in charge of Mr. Harper's stay until it's time for him to leave us. Do you think you can handle that?"

Rayne smiled. "Oh yes, Admiral. It will be my pleasure."

* * *

Harper woke quite suddenly from his unnatural sleep. The room was bright and it hurt his eyes when he opened them. It was probably from that damn flashbang grenade.

He stopped. _Grenade...intruders...shouting...pain..._ then nothing. Damn it! He should have fought back! He should have done something! If they hurt Trance, they were gonna pay.

* * *

Rayne watched his new project finally awaken in the cell along with the ships' doctor and two orderlies.

"I need to know what stage the virus is at," Doctor Gaou told the Lieutenant "so I can assess what kind of time frame we're looking at. He may be dead before we reach the Beta team."

Rayne just turned to her and smiled. "Be ready with a stun gun."

* * *

Harper struggled to his feet as his eyes got used to the whiteness of the room. It dawned on him that he had no idea how long he had been out, or even where he was. He assumed he was onboard The Barbell, but they could have taken him anywhere. When his eyes adjusted, he studied the room - or rather his cell. The bright lights were coming from four strips in each corner of a room no bigger than Harper's quarters. A large mirror was mounted on one wall. _Jeez, could these guys get anymore subtle?_ He thought to himself sarcastically.

Before he could make any kind of comment to whoever was behind that mirror, the door opened on the far side of the room. A tall, lanky man entered. Harper waited to see what he had to say for himself.

"My name is Lieutenant Rayne," he said. "I trust already you know why you're here?"

"Yeah I know why I'm here, you kidnapped me you bastard," Harper seethed.

"Steady, Mr Harper, we wouldn't want you to get angry now would we?" Rayne said, contemptuously.

"Angry! Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea the crap I have been through in the past 24 hours?" Harper yelled.

"I have some idea," Rayne replied indifferently.

"I find that hard to believe," Harper shouted. His blood was rising and as he spoke he could feel something coursing through his veins. Power. "A good friend of mine committed suicide in front of me, I got infected with some god damned virus that's gonna drive me insane, I rammed a scalpel through my hand and now I'm being held prisoner by people who are supposed to be on my side!"

Rayne looked utterly indifferent to Harper's outburst. "Why don't you just remain calm, Mr Harper?"

Harper snapped. "DON'T TELL ME TO BE CALM!"

Rayne was smashed up against the mirror before he could even blink.

Two men in white coats burst through the door and fired some kind of weapon at Harper. He grimaced as the dart hit his thigh. Rayne watched, amused, as Harper fell to the deck. "I think it's safe to say he is in the early stages of development."

* * *

End of Chapter Seven 


	8. Early Stages

TITLE: The Unintended  
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

CHAPTER EIGHT Early Stages  
""Beginnings are easy, but only to those who have been to the end.""  
Emperor Jyntin Illiji  
CY 875

* * *

"Do we have engines yet?" 

"It will take a further half an hour," Andromeda told to a livid Dylan.

"That's it, I'm taking the Maru," Beka announced, shaking her head."If we wait any longer we'll never find him again."

Trance stood in her way. "Beka, you can't." Dylan was pleased for once he didn't have to be voice of reason.

"She's right, Beka," Tyr agreed. "The Barbell isn't as powerful as the Andromeda but the Maru is no match for her. You won't stand a chance."

Beka stood huffily, knowing they were right. It was just that she felt so useless, and she hated sitting around on her ass doing nothing while Harper was in trouble. The others knew exactly how she felt. "God, why does this crap always happen to Harper? He can never catch a break," she said, both angry and sad at the same time.

* * *

Harper writhed in anguish at the unrelenting nightmare that had gripped his slumber. Images, scenes and words brutally assaulted his sleeping mind. He saw people - Beka, Tyr and Rommie. Rayne was in there too talking to an older man he didn't recognise and a skinny woman with brown hair. At first they were all simply emotionless pictures, but as the images flashed quickly by they became interlaced with images of each of them in agony, screaming and sobbing, pleading for their lives. 

The other side of the mirror, Doctor Gaou watched her temporary patient in confusion. The readings she was getting from his cerebral monitors were off the chart.

"What's going on?" Rayne asked. He'd been lurking in the background when Harper had begun to show obvious signs of distress, and the monitors started bleeping madly.

Gaou was flustered as she tried to recallibrate the machines. "I...I don't know!"

"Is he dying?" Rayne demanded. He didn't like not knowing what was happening. It stripped him of the illusion of control.

"He's showing massive cerebral activity, but this much can't even occur when a human is awake, let alone during sleep! I don't understand it."

"Wake him up," Rayne ordered, but it didn't matter. The distressed man stopped thrashing and was still. The frantic beeping of the monitors melted back to a steady pace and all was quiet. Harper was awake.

After the panic and bustle, Gaou's assistant, Lambreck, looked over the readings from the episode, a look of puzzlement on his face. "These readings can't be accurate..."

"What is it?" Gaou asked.

"According to this...the patient was awake when the readings occurred."

Gaou took the read-outs from him and checked them for herself. "That's impossible," she said, confirming that the readings were accurate. Rayne simply listened intently to the conversation.

"Could this be another side-effect of the virus? Some kind of waking dream?" Lambreck suggested.

"No...no, this is something I've never seen before. And I've seen a hell of a lot in this job."

Rayne snatched the read-outs form her hands and broke into a grin that didn't fit his face. "The Beta team are going to have a field day."

* * *

Harper awoke from his rancid nightmare, but he didn't feel fully aware. It was like half of his brain was still unconscious as the other wearily tried to make sense of the waking world. He knew immediately he had been given some kind of sedative. He struggled to get the disturbing images of the twisted dream out of his mind. Finally he managed to dismiss them and focus on trying to wake up properly. Harper looked around and saw he was in another white room - it might have been the same one as before, he couldn't be sure. The mirror wasn't cracked, but they might have replaced it. Again it seemed he had no idea how long he had been unconscious or where he was. It was disorientating to say the least. 

His eyes were drawn to the opening. Door. Rayne walked in. It seemed the incident earlier had done nothing to reduce his smug, self-satisfied demeanour.

"Let's start again shall we?" he said, sitting on the chair in the corner.

"Screw you," Harper said groggily, planning on ignoring him completely. When he had forced Rayne into the mirror, the power surging through his veins had scared him. Truthfully, it wasn't the power that scared him, it was the fact that he enjoyed it. The lust for more was overwhelming, and nothing that addictive could possibly be good. He didn't intend to let himself go down that road.

Rayne smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile, if he even capable of such a thing. "I apologise for earlier, it was necessary to provoke an emotional response in order to gage the virus' progress in your system." He spoke so coldly it sent shivers down Harper's spine. "You appear to be in the early stages," Rayne continued when he saw Harper had nothing to say. "There's no need to feel like a prisoner here, Mr Harper."

"Oh really? The fact that you drugged me up would seem to suggest otherwise," Harper bit back, trying hard to overcome the urge to sleep.

"Just now, what were you dreaming?" Rayne asked, changing the subject.

"I don't remember, why?" Harper lied.

Rayne wasn't convinced. "Are you sure about that?"

Harper watched him warily, wondering what his angle was. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Rayne silently got up and approached the bed Harper was sitting on. "I realise the sedatives are still in your system, and being that you've only just woken up, perhaps you haven't had the time or the lucidity to notice the dull ache behind your right ear."

Harper tensed instantly and he found himself locked in a stare-out with Rayne. Becoming painful aware of his own body, he began to notice his head was indeed throbbing. When he'd woken up he's dismissed it as having been just another one of the many aches and pains he accumulated after a normal rough sleep, but now Rayne had mentioned it, it was obvious it was something more. Harper's hand timidly rose to the source of the pain. His fingers came across something that wasn't supposed to be there. A device was attached to the skin just behind his ear, not just the skin but deeper, it dug into his skull.

Rayne showed the slightest flicker of pleasure at the horror on Harper's face.

"What the hell have you done to me?" Harper snapped, his anger rising.

Another wicked smile spread across Rayne's face. "Now, now Mr Harper, remember what happened last time you lost your temper?"

Harper knew that Rayne was baiting him but he didn't care. Along with his anger came the rush of power and the knowledge that he could use it. "Yeah, I kicked your pansy ass without lifting a finger," he said, twisted pleasure stowing away on his tone.

Rayne stepped forward to come face to face with Harper, they were only inches apart. Neither man's gaze faltered. Rayne was going to enjoy this. "Try me."

The next moment didn't happen as Harper planned. He had gripped the power that rippled through his body and had every intention of kicking the crap out of the smug bastard. But instead all that happened was pain. The most intense pain he had ever endured, and given the crap that Harper had been through, that was really saying something.

"Do you honestly think we are stupid enough to design a virus capable of giving super-human powers to our soldiers without the ability to control them?" Rayne said as Harper's contorted body convulsed on the deck. "It's called an inhibitor. I don't know exactly how it work but it works so well, wouldn't you say? Every time you get the urge to exercise your new gifts, you will experience the pain you are experiencing now, in all its agonising glory."

When Rayne grew weary of the one-sided conversation, he knelt down beside Harper, who had tears uncontrollably running down his twisted features. "You have to relax and the pain will stop," he said clearly. It was obvious the man could barely hear him, so Rayne held his head and forced Harper to meet him in the eye. "Calm down, and it will stop."

The notion of being calm when you felt like you were going to explode was laughable to Harper, but somehow he managed it. Somehow Rayne's words had struck some logical cord in his brain, and it worked. The pain stopped, but its effects lingered on. He could hardly see, and seemed to have lost control of his limbs.

Rayne stood back up and folded his arms. "By the way. I have the ability to turn the inhibitor on and off at will. I'm hoping you won't make me use that power, Harper." There was no leeway in Rayne's voice. "Now why don't you tell me about that dream?"

* * *

End of Chapter Eight 


	9. In the Dark

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Sorry for the delay, here's the next chappie :D

CHAPTER NINE In The Dark

"Don't fear the dark, just try and stay out of it."

Mosabe proverb

* * *

Harper hadn't moved from where he had fallen on the floor. His body was still resonating with the pain the inhibitor had inflicted. He was afraid to move for fear of it returning. Rayne was still standing over him. 

"What did you see?" he demanded, without sympathy.

"I don't know...faces," Harper replied quietly. He hated Rayne with a passion but right now he had to give the sadist what he wanted.

"Whose faces?"

"Beka, Trance, Dylan...you...others I didn't recognise, a woman and a man."

"And all you saw were faces? Is there anything else? What were they doing, where were they?"

Harper closed his eyes. He didn't want to remember. He didn't want to tell Rayne, he didn't know why it mattered anyway, it was just a nightmare. But he also didn't want Rayne to activate the device stuck in his brain. "They were in pain. Screaming. Hurting."

Rayne studied the man before him. "Is that everything?" he asked.

Harper nodded slightly.

"Very well. Get some sleep. You'll need it."

Harper wanted to hurt that son of a bitch, badly, but he couldn't let himself go through that again. There was only one thing stopping Harper from experiencing that pain again. Fear. Fear was holding him together, preventing him from losing himself completely.

* * *

Rayne walked back to the monitoring room with a smile on his face. "The inhibitor works beautifully, wouldn't you say?" 

Gaou disagreed. "We need to turn the intensity down, it's far too high."

Her suggestion was met with hostility. "You'll do no such thing."

"At least let me give him something for the pain," Gaou argued. Harper was supposed to be her patient and now she was being told how she was allowed to treat him. It was ridiculous. She'd never liked Rayne, or the Admiral for that matter, but it just wasn't an option to leave.

Rayne looked through the two-way glass at Harper who was still on the floor. "Fine," Rayne said with a wave of his hand. "I'll be back in an hour."

When he had gone, Gaou got some pain meds and went into the observation room. Harper opened his eyes but made no other movements. Gaou crouched down next to him and lifted his arm to inject the meds.

"I'm giving you something for the pain Harper. My name is - "

"Gaou...Doctor Gaou," Harper finished for her. He knew her. He recognised her, he knew her name but from where?

"How did you know that?" Gaou asked. She had been watching Harper since he was brought aboard and no-one had mentioned her name.

Harper sat up when he realised, a look of alarm of his face. He had seen he face in his nightmare. She was talking to Rayne and the older man, and then later she was screaming for her life like the others.

"You saw me when you were dreaming, didn't you?" Gaou suddenly realised. She didn't know how to react but settled for astonished. She turned to the mirror, knowing that Lambreck was still behind the glass. "The virus is advancing faster than we imagined."

"Are you gonna cure it?" Harper asked her, though it sounded so desperate it was more of a cry for help.

Gaou turned back to him. It wasn't in her job description to find a cure, only to study him for as long as was possible. That meant study Harper until he died. The spark of guilt quickly subsided and she wore a blank expression as she administered the meds.

"These will help you sleep better," she informed him coldly and got up to leave.

"_Please..." _Harper uttered, before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

"Dylan we're back online," Andromeda reported as soon as she had regained control over her engines. 

"The Outset?" Dylan asked.

Andromeda checked her sensors now that they were back online. "I'm sorry, Dylan, it's too late. The sun's gravitational pull has caught it again. We'll never reach it in time to stop it from drifting into the...Hold on." Holo-Rommie's expression suddenly changed as her concentration shifted.

Dylan and the others waited patiently for her to explain.

"Another ship is moving to intercept The Outset," she announced.

"The Barbell?" Beka asked in confusion. She assumed that The Barbell intended to let The Outset get destroyed, to cover up whatever it was they were covering up.

"Negative," Rommie told her. "The ship is of Nietzschean design. They're pulling The Outset off course."

Tyr was his usual suspicious self. "Why would Nietzscheans care about an abandoned research vessel?"

"They're hailing us," Andromeda reported.

"I guess we'll find out," Dylan answered. "On screen."

A blonde square-faced Nietzschean appeared on the screen. To say he looked unhappy would be an understatement. "Where is he?"

_Not a great start, _Dylan thought to himself. "Nice to meet you, I'm Captain Hunt of the Andromeda Ascendant, and who might you be?"

"I am Luthor of the Dovien-Genghis pride. Don't play games with me, Hunt," he threatened. "Where is Taylor?"

"What do you want with Taylor?" Tyr asked, his curiosity peaked.

"That is none of your concern. Now tell me where he is or suffer the consequences!"

Tyr couldn't help but smirk. Not only was this man the most unthreatening Nietzschean he had ever come across, but he was incompetent too. The only time people used the expression 'suffer the consequences' was when they had no firepower whatsoever.

"We're looking for Taylor too, so it _is_ my concern," Dylan told him with authority. "Oh, and by the way. Threaten me again and it will be the last time you threaten anyone. Now tell me what you want with the Admiral and I might not allow my trigger-happy weapons officer to exercise his fingers."

Luthor scoffed. "Admiral? Tell me, are you at home in the dark, Captain?

"What's that supposed to mean?" Beka said defensively.

"It means Taylor is no more of an Admiral than my two year old nephew,"Luthor informed them, enjoying the knowledge he possessed that the High Guard Captain didn't. "Not anymore."

* * *

End of Chapter Nine 


	10. Takeover

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Naughty me, taken a bit long posting so here's two chapters as a sorry :) Oh and emorasyou are right about the error, in the original draft Luthor's character was female so I must have skipped a he/she change! All better now.

* * *

CHAPTER TEN -Takeover

"When they tell you that power corrupts, they forget

to mention how much fun corruption can be."

Unknown

* * *

Dylan wanted to say something witty or clever, anything to conceal his confusion but he couldn't quite manage it. "What do you mean he isn't an admiral?"

Luthor was getting bored of the game already. "Captain, I am not here to cure your ignorance. I'm after Taylor and I intend to find him and make him pay his debt. Good day."

Before anyone could get another word in, the screen was blank and Luthor was gone. "Andromeda, find out if there's any truth to what he says."

"It would make sense. I mean, for an Admiral he didn't pay much attention to protocol," Rommie suggested.

Tyr agreed. "Regardless of whether Taylor is an Admiral or not, Luthor seems to want to find him. He could lead us straight to The Barbell and Harper."

* * *

"Sir, there are no lifesigns onboard The Outset and her engines are offline," Luthor's second in command, Rylisa, told him.

"What!" Luthor bellowed. He doubled checked the readings for himself and quickly came to a conclusion. "Taylor must have already been here, taken the research and the scientists." He slammed his fist down on the control panel in anger. Eventually he regained his only-slightly-on-edge disposition. "Find him. He was here."

Rylisa checked the sensors. "A slip portal was opened recently. I should be able to trace The Barbell through to its destination," she confirmed. "What about the Andromeda? Hunt said he was looking for Taylor too. He'll most likely follow us."

"I don't want any interference when we catch up with Taylor," Luthor said, making himself very clear. "Lose them and make sure they can't find us, or The Barbell."

Rylisa nodded, accepting her orders. She wanted to find Taylor as much as anyone. She was going to enjoy getting what they were owed, but mostly she was looking forward to making Taylor suffer for the crimes he had committed against the pride. Making people suffer was her speciality.

* * *

Harper was asleep again, dreaming. It wasn't the same as the dream he experienced before though, it was clearer. It felt real. The only way he could tell it wasn't actually happening was by the fact that he wasn't a part of it. Harper was an observer in whatever play his mind was performing. Even though he had never seen the corridors, he worked out that they were The Barbell's. Rayne and the older man from the previous dream were talking. Rather than the images flashing past like last time, they was more steady. Harper caught brief flickers of conversation.

_'Andromeda...our guest...Beta team...doctor...'_

Then the whole scene shook. The voices were loud and panicked.

_'They found us!' _was the only sentence Harper could pick out before he woke up. Funny, he couldn't even remember falling asleep.

* * *

Behind the mirror Gaou and Lambreck were ever-present, watching their patient closely. 'Watching' was all they had been ordered to do. At first, they had been assigned to train the subject, but when it became apparent that the virus wasn't quite what they expected, they were ordered to simply sit back and monitor, until they reached the Beta team.

"He's having another waking dream, look at these readings," Gaou said excitedly. Harper was just standing by the mirror with his eyes closed, seemingly going through REM.

"I don't understand. If this is an effect of the virus, why doesn't the inhibitor stop it?" Lambreck wondered out loud.

"The inhibitor was designed to restrict telekinetic activity," Gaou ventured. "Whatever this...'precognitive' state is, it's not happening in the same area of the brain. The inhibitor is useless to stop it." Gaou was lost in her own thoughts. "It's incredible."

Harper opened his eyes again and seemed disorientated. Gaou watched in fascination.

"What about The Outset? What happened over there, why did we leave it behind with the Andromeda?" Lambreck questioned.

Gaou turned her concentration back to her assistant. "I don't know, and you shouldn't be asking. We weren't hired to ask questions."

Lambreck fell back into place, respecting Gaou's opinion. He looked over the recent readouts. "The notes Lieutenant Rayne gave us didn't mention the possibility of precognition."

"The notes 'Lieutenant' Rayne gave us were sketchy at best," Gaou replied with disdain. They had been instructed to call the crew by their titles, to maintain the illusion that they were still a part of the Commonwealth. "I don't know how he expects us to - "

"Expects you to what?"

Rayne was standing in the doorway with Taylor.

"Oh, I didn't see you there, Lieutenant. Admiral," Gaou said, buying herself some time to think up an explanation. She and Rayne hadn't had many problems in the past, but living on a ship for so long, word got round about people. He was not to be messed with.

Rayne smiled his creepy smile. "Please, continue," he urged as Taylor looked on, amused.

"I was simply saying that...I think the Beta team will have just as difficult a job as I am making headway," Gaou said carefully. "It seems the strain of the virus our patient has was a result of complete guesswork, which makes finding out its construct exceedingly difficult, let alone duplicating it without the unwanted side-effects."

Rayne stepped closer to her, making her feel uneasy. He spoke in a slow, clear voice, but he had never sounded more threatening. "That's why you are just a courier, keeping the package safe until it is delivered. So why don't you get on with your job and we shouldn't have any more problems."

"That's enough," Taylor declared. Rayne backed off as per his orders. "Doctor, I hear there have been some developments."

Gaou was relieved Taylor had saved her, and collected her thoughts. "The patient is exhibiting what appears to be mild precognitive...dream states."

"Precognitive? He can see into the future?" Taylor asked, his lust for power inflamed by the mere notion.

"Well, so far we only have initial readings but...yes, it would appear that way."

"Phenomenal..." Taylor breathed, looking through the mirror to the patient in question. "Continue to monitor him and keep me informed of any more developments," he ordered when he'd snapped out of his trance. He didn't wait for any acknowledgement as he left the doctor and Lambreck to it. Rayne followed him down the corridor.

"Sir, the Andromeda will be looking for us to retrieve our guest. What if they reach us before we get to the Beta team?" Rayne asked.

"They won't," Taylor replied simply. Be it arrogance or optimism, he was abundant in it. "Do you know what power we could have if the virus is perfected? If what the doctor said is true..."

The ship was suddenly moved from under their feet. "Command, report!" Taylor demanded.

A panicked voice came over the com. "Sir! It's the Nietzscheans! They found us!"

* * *

End of Chapter Ten 


	11. Come What May

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

CHAPTER ELEVEN Come What May

"Your life's turned to crap and you think you got it bad. Then the universe turns around, grins and says 'you ain't seen nothin' yet'."

Alrmax Aquarius, master thief

CY 4598

* * *

"Dylan, you're not going to wanna hear this..."

"Beka, please don't start your sentences like that. It makes me very nervous," Dylan told her pleasantly.

"Uh, okay...Dylan, I have some wonderful news," Beka said with fake enthusiasm. "I lost the ship."

Dylan closed his eyes. He really didn't want to hear that. After Luthor destroyed The Outset, they knew he would go after Taylor and decided to follow. Things were never easy. "Where did they go?" he said, agitated.

"I don't know," Beka replied. "That was what I meant when I said I lost them."

Dylan had no time for sarcasm. "Beka!"

"I don't know!" Beka repeated, holding her hands up defensively. "They just...disappeared! I don't know how they did it but I can't read any trails, no energy signatures, nothing."

"She's right Dylan. There are no readings from The Barbell of the Nietzscheans."

"What now?" Trance asked.

Dylan wished he had an answer.

* * *

Taylor and Rayne ran to Command as fast as they could. They were greeted by a full view of Luthor's ship on the viewscreen. He was moving in to dock.

"Everyone, we're about to be boarded, arm yourselves!"

In the white room, Harper heard the announcement and couldn't help but smile. After he felt the jolt he knew something was going on. He'd been through enough battles to know what an attack from another ship felt like. He prayed to god that It was Andromeda. They had come to rescue him. "All hail Dylan Hunt and his lack of regard for authority!" he said out loud, turning to the mirror. "You'd better arm yourselves with rocket launchers 'cause that's the only thing that's gonna stop my friends, ya hear me?" he sneered. Then he remembered about the inhibitor. He couldn't get angry again. Not until Trance figured out a way to remove the damn thing. And cure the virus of course, but one problem at a time.

* * *

Luthor and Rylisa rampaged through the ship with the rest of their team, killing anyone who dared fire a weapon in their direction. Rylisa was in her element. Rather than killing the next imbecile that pulled a gun on her, she grabbed the scrawny human by the neck and thrust him against the wall. "Where is Taylor?"

The crewman said nothing. It wasn't so much a brave stand against the Nietzschean intruder as a fear-induced silence. Rylisa dropped him after rolling her eyes. He wasn't even worth the kill.

"Split up," he ordered. "Find Taylor."

* * *

Rylisa was in the bowels of the ships, in what looked like some kind of revamped medical deck. She heard voices, a man and a woman's up ahead and approached quietly.

"Let the others deal with the intruders, whoever they are. They're the mercenaries, not us. I don't intend to get myself killed."

"Maybe we could surrender to the Andromeda

"_If _it's the Andromeda. It could be anyone."

"How very perceptive of you," Rylisa said, making her presence known.

Gaou and Lambreck jumped five feet in the air. "Wh...who are you?"

"I am Rylisa from the Dovien-Genghis pride," she said, madness smouldering in her eyes. "You remember us, don't you? Your 'Admiral' slaughtered five of our pride, and stole from us. That sort of thing doesn't go by unnoticed."

"We had nothing to do with that. We're just here because we're paid to be here," Gaou tried. She could honestly say she had no idea what the angry Nietzschean was talking about.

Rylisa pretended to confused. "Really? That's odd...I don't seem to care." She moved with the grace of a dancer and the force of a warrior, slashing Lambreck's throat with her bone blades, then spinning to face Gaou.

"No...no, please! Oh god, please don't kill me!" the doctor begged.

Rylisa was disgusted. She had never seen such a display of vile cowardice. She decided the humane thing to do would be to put it out of its misery, and used one of her patented spinning moves, stabbing Gaou in the stomach. She fell to the floor next to Lambreck, both of them bleeding and choking. Rylisa relished in the moment, the blood still dripping from her arms. Then she noticed the man pacing in the room being monitored and was immediately intrigued. She turned on the lights, allowing the mirror to become two-way.

Harper noticed the mirror change to a window into the monitoring room. Expecting to see Beka, Rommie or Dylan smiling back at him, he was mildly dismayed to see a woman he didn't recognise.

"And who might you be?" she asked curiously, switching on the intercom.

"You're not Dylan..." Harper surmised when he saw the bone blades dripping with blood.

"So you're from the Andromeda," Rylisa figured. She knew Hunt was the Captain of that ridiculously overrated ship. "And what does Taylor want you for?"

"Could be number of things. My skill, my looks, my ability to make sarcastic and biting comments in the most dire of situations?" Harper replied tensely.

"Or it could be...because you're infected with a strand of the 246 virus," Rylisa said, grinning from ear to ear. She was looking at the readouts and recordings left lying around.

"No, I don't think it's that," Harper said, shaking his head.

"Oh, I think it is. You just sit tight. I'll be right back for you," Rylisa said, placing her finger on the glass.

* * *

Luthor found Command shortly after the team had separated. Taylor was trying to orchestrate some kind of retaliation. It was pathetic.

"Taylor!" Luthor shouted, demanding his attention. "You thought you could run after what you did?" he asked rhetorically. "If you believe me to be that forgiving, you are sadly mistaken. It's time to pay your debt, Taylor."

Rylisa showed up moments later, beaming. "Luthor, they have someone infected with the virus. A kludge from the Andromeda."

"Is that so?" Luthor responded, intrigued by the news. "That does make things a little more interesting. Tell me, how far have you got in your little endeavour? The endeavour that we funded?"

He got no response.

"No matter. I'm sure Rylisa will be delighted to ask you again once she takes you back to her ship."

Rylisa looked over at Luthor. "Her ship?"

"You've just been promoted my dear, you can take my ship," Luthor told her. "Besides, I rather like The Barbell. It will make a fine addition to our fleet, don't you think?"

Rylisa was having the best day in a long while. "A fine addition."

* * *

End of Chapter Eleven 


	12. Pain of Retribution

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Thankies to jenben, Feebeefi, SoBlonde, Zork the Unbearable and everyone who has taken the time to read and review so far! You guys rock my socksxxx Have two more chapters.

CHAPTER TWELVE - Pain of Retribution

"I will have my vengeance and collect the debts

owed. And it will be the sweetest thing."

- Grema Trist 56:2

* * *

"You can't just take my ship," Taylor protested, although he really shouldn't have. He was ridiculously outnumbered, most of his crew had been slaughtered and only Rayne remained by his side. 

"I find that quite amusing coming from you," Luthor returned. "Of course, I'll need the codes you used to regain your command when you stole the ship back from the Commonwealth. I presume they will work just as well in making the ship obey me."

"I'm not giving you anything," Taylor sneered.

Luthor stared at him coldly. "I'm going to take it anyway."

"The mudfoot, the one with the virus. He's got a dataport," Rylisa mentioned. "He's probably Andromeda's engineer. He'll know about High Guard ships."

Luthor considered this fact. "Without knowing exactly how far the virus has been developed, it's too risky," he said, glancing at Taylor and Rayne. "However, we are relatively hidden here..." he pondered. "When you find out what information they have, let me know," he told Rylisa. "Take the kludge with you. I'm sure you'll enjoy having three new pets to go with your new ship."

Rylisa nodded and left, nodding at three of her men to follow. "That kludge may seem pathetic, but until I say otherwise, he's potentially dangerous," she told them as they made their way back down to the lower levels. "When we get there, we'll sedate him and make the transfer. You," she gestured to one of them. "Collect all the files you can find. This is going to be fun."

* * *

"Dylan, we have just received an encrypted message," Andromeda reported.. 

"Someone finally responding to our message to High Guard Command?" Dylan asked. They had reported the situation in the hopes that maybe they could get some help apprehending The Barbell.

"Unknown," Andromeda replied. "It's origins have been carefully masked. And it requires your access codes to play."

Dylan raised his eyebrows. That didn't sound like High Guard protocol. Anyone who took that much care either had something incredibly important to say, didn't want to get caught, or both. "Play message, authorisation Beta Charlie 241."

Andromeda's image blinked off the screen and a man appeared. Dylan recognised him. "Daniels...he's part of the High Guard command over on Gedran," he explained to the others. They hadn't spoken in a while, so Dylan had no idea what the message was about to tell him.

"Dylan, I'm sorry I couldn't go through official channels to get this to you," Daniels began. "But this is strictly off the record. Command knows about your situation, they got your message. I am telling you what I'm about to tell you against my orders, and even my better judgement, but you need to know. Taylor was discharged by High Guard Command when it became apparent he and his lieutenant were conducting illegal experiments."

"Why would that information be common knowledge?" Beka wondered aloud.

"The experiments Taylor was conducting were sanctioned by the Commonwealth authorities, in secret," Daniels continued, conflict evident on his features.

"Ah," Beka said. That would be why. They were covering their backs.

"Taylor was more than a little annoyed at having to take the fall. He hired a mercenary crew and stole The Barbell back. That's all the information I have. The Commonwealth has washed its hands of this matter. I'm sorry I can't give you better news. Good luck, Dylan."

The message vanished from the screen and Andromeda's image returned to face a seething Dylan. "There are no words," he said in disbelief. He looked as if he was going to explode at any minute.

"Unbelievable!" Beka exclaimed, echoing his thoughts.

Trance was gripped by sadness and anger. How could the Commonwealth, the one thing she hoped could save this universe house this kind of corruption? "This won't do much for faith in the Commonwealth."

Dylan sighed. "It doesn't do much for my faith either."

* * *

"Arion Rayne," Rylisa declared as she entered the interrogation room. Rayne was secured to the chair in the centre of the floor. 

"I've been reading up on you. It seems Taylor couldn't have survived without you pulling his strings. You're reputation is even more...colourful than his. I could use a man like you on my side. It would be highly beneficial."

Rayne wasn't fooled for a second. "For who?"

"Well, considering you'll undergo agonising torture if you refuse...you," Rylisa explained with pleasure.

Rayne replied with a cold stare, then turned away from her, or as much as the chair would allow.

Rylisa was moderately upset by his refusal, until she realised it meant she got to have her fun. "Very well. Then why don't you make this easier on yourself and tell me how far the 246 research has come."

"You're better off asking someone else. I won't answer your questions," Rayne replied calmly.

"They're dead. It might be a little difficult."

"Taylor?"

"He's alive. But he will not be extended the opportunity to answer my questions. All he will know is pain, there is no escaping that. You, however, have the power to ease your suffering by telling me what I want to know. How far has your research taken you?"

Rayne was not talking.

"What about the kludge?" Rylisa continued. "I saw the doctors' research."

Rayne laughed despite his situation. "Let me guess, you can't read it. You Nietzscheans aren't known for your scientific prowess, are you?"

Rylisa's anger rose. "I'm glad you're deciding not to co-operate. I'm going to enjoy breaking you Arion Rayne," she said, moving closer to him, until he could feel her breath on his skin. "I'll be sure to take it slow."

* * *

End of Chapter 12 


	13. Visionary

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Visionary

"Too much, too little and never enough. Time bows before no man."

Hecata Sree-Tak 98:23 Prophecies

CY 897

* * *

Since losing Luthor's ship, Beka had been relentlessly trying to pick up any trace of them or The Barbell. She couldn't understand how they simply disappeared, but until she did she was blaming herself.

"Another possibility, another bust," Beka declared as she exited slipstream for what seemed liked the hundredth time. Her limbs were aching but her mind would not let her give up.

"We've got to keep trying," Dylan said, mirroring her thoughts. "We're on our own on this one."

"Trance, any thoughts?" Beka asked, opening a com channel to the golden alien. She was down in med-deck carrying on her research.

"Just don't lose hope," the ever-cryptic one replied. "And feel secure in the knowledge that you have choices to make and you'll make them no matter what. And perhaps you might feel safer knowing that the slip point closest to the Dura system is just as valid a choice as the next."

Beka smiled. That girl never failed to amaze her. "Thank-you Trance. Brace for slipstream." She turned the ship and entered the next slip point closest to Dura.

"Just a hunch," Trance replied.

The blue tendrils reached out and drew the Andromeda into their clutches. Beka did what she did best and used her instincts to navigate the slip route. Finally she pulled the ship out and they came to a stop.

"I'm not detecting Luthor's vessel or The Barbell," Andromeda reported, but continued before anyone got the chance to swear. "However, I am reading several escape pods from The Barbell."

"Escape pods? Does that mean..." Dylan began.

Andromeda quickly put his fears to rest. "There is no sign of debris. The Barbell was not destroyed."

"Alright. Round them up. Let's see what we've got."

* * *

Rylisa was getting settled into her new ship. She had Taylor, Rayne and Harper in her clutches, the rest of Taylor's crew slaughtered. True, they could have been bought for the right price, but every last person on that ship was an enemy of the Dovien-Genghis pride. And the only enemies that lived would wish they hadn't. Rayne was proof of that. She smiled, remembering the torture session. She had obtained a few answers, but knew he was holding back. She had expected nothing less.

Right now she was leading one of her new drugged prisoner to get checked over by the doctor. The medical bay was rarely used, since illness and injury were rare within the pride.

Harper was pushed into the room and shoved onto some kind of machine that proceeded to take all kinds of scans of his head. He wasn't given any eye protection and the lights hurt the back of his eyes, and with the sedatives they had given him, the lights danced before his eyes in his woozy state. When he was taken out, a petite woman, clearly not a Nietzschean, took a blood sample. It didn't take long for Harper to realise she was an AI.

Rylisa noted his reaction. "It's quite primitive but we hardly have use for it usually. It's really only activated for emergencies," she told him.

Harper hated it when people called an AI 'it' but didn't consider it the most pressing issue at the time. He was also so out of it, he doubted he could string together a sentence..

The AI finished what she was doing. "Initial assessment achieved. Sedatives in bloodstream. Weakened immune system. Blood contains abnormal qualities. Recent through-penetration wound in right palm. Unusual cerebral device infiltrating brain."

Rylisa rolled her eyes. She was hoping that the AI could tell her something about the virus, instead it couldn't even distinguish a dataport. "Like I said, it's primitive," she said, exasperated. "Rayne told me you're infected with the latest version of the virus, but it hasn't showed any signs of the higher brain functions it was meant to create. That's unfortunate," Rylisa sighed, then smiled. "He was reluctant to tell me anything at first but, as you can imagine, my methods of persuasion are unsurpassed."

Harper's mind was lagging and his eyes wouldn't allow him to focus on one thing for too long. He still had sedatives from before in his system, and they didn't seem to want to let up any time soon. He wondered why Rayne had lied about the virus. He probably didn't want Rylisa getting what she wanted. Maybe if he didn't have the damn inhibitor embedded in his skull, he could use it to his advantage.

"It doesn't matter. I know you're Andromeda's engineer. And I know you can help Luthor take over The Barbell. If you co-operate, I might consider letting you go."

Harper wanted to tell her where to go, but settled for silence.

"Have it your way," Rylisa said, and left. As she left she gave instructions to one of the guards on the door. "When the AI is done, take him to his cell."

Harper watched her go. Still drowsy from the sedatives, he suddenly felt strange. It wasn't like he was falling asleep, but slipping away. And then he found himself in an odd dream, like the ones before but this time it was so much clearer. He had no physical form, it was still as if he was simply an echo of himself, looking on reality like a movie. He saw some kind of kitchen or galley maybe. Someone else was there, and it didn't take long for Harper to realise he was looking at himself. Before he could get the chance to work out what was going on, the scene changed and he was in a corridor. It was the one outside med-deck, because the guard was outside - on the floor. The AI doctor was standing over him. Harper watched as the Nietzschean got up, and realised whatever this dream was, it appeared to be going backwards. The AI attacked the guard, spoke to him then went back into the room. Harper's ethereal form went with her. Back in the medical bay Harper saw himself once more, sitting on the bed, and tampering with the AI's systems

Then as quickly as he had entered the dream state, he was thrust back inside his own form, and sitting in med-bay.

"Final assessment, patient operating at 68.45 taking into account mild sedatives.," the AI announced to no-one in particular. Harper was still adjusting to what he had just been through when the doctor turned around revealing the deactivation switch on her neck.

Without thinking, he lunged forward, summoning all his strength to do so, and reached for it. The AI collapsed and he caught her, then checked to make sure no-one had heard.

* * *

End of Chapter Thirteen 


	14. Sincere with Persuasion

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Glad y'all are enjoying it! Lots more fluff and bunny wabbits to come. And when I say fluff and bunny wabbits I mean blood, angst and no bunny wabbits at all. Oh and there's a bit that might make you cringe if you're squeamish. Don't say I didn't warn ya ;)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN Sincere with Persuasion

"Why try? Why dream? Why breathe in and out?"

Armin Rectos, philosopher

CY 985-98

* * *

It wasn't easy reprogramming the AI without his tools, but Harper managed it. He used a some of the medical tools lying around to snip wires and reconnecting them elsewhere. He was still drowsy from the sedatives and his concentration only lapsed a couple of times. Finally he had placed a set of basic commands into her system - to go outside, talk to the Nietzschean and then knock him out. Sometimes he even amazed himself.

As the reprogrammed doctor left to complete her objective, Harper slid off the bed, almost losing his footing in the process as the lag on his mind seemed to transfer to his body. He waited for the conversation and the thud from outside and when he heard it, cautiously left the med-bay. The AI was standing over the unconscious Nietzschean, just as Harper had seen in his...he hesitated to call it a dream. It was clearly more than that. It was more like a vision. Jesus, he was having _visions _now? He didn't have much time to consider it as footsteps echoed down the corridor. He ushered the doctor back into the med-bay. Right now he had to get out of there.

* * *

"Why did you take an escape pod?"

Tyr and Dylan were interrogating the prisoners they had taken from The Barbell escape pods that were rounded up. So far they weren't being particularly helpful.

The man was Sternan Cole, a mercenary for hire who had seemed to make getting caught a part of his hobby. Andromeda had found his record to be quite interesting reading; it looked like he'd spent more time in prison than he had committing crimes.

"Apparently our friend here would prefer to go to prison again than give us what we need," Tyr said to Dylan, for the benefit of Cole.

"You know, I'm not really in the mood for this game," Dylan replied. "Do you mind if we play something else?"

Tyr shrugged. "Only if I can join in."

"Be my guest."

Tyr opened the cell door and went inside. Cole tensed, not expecting the sudden invasion. "Hey, you're Commonwealth, you can't hurt me," he said, failing to hide his worry.

"Oh darn it. He's right, Tyr," Dylan said melodramatically, and turned to leave. At the door he stopped and pretended to have an idea. "Except the Commonwealth have decided to sit this one out. So there's not really much point in obeying their rules."

"Sounds good to me." Tyr wished Dylan wasn't bluffing and he really could kick the crap out of this pathetic excuse for a living being. But he supposed watching the man quiver in fear was the next best thing.

"Alright, alright! I'll answer your damn questions!"

"Tell us what happened to The Barbell," Tyr demanded. "Did the Nietzscheans find you?"

"Yeah. They came onboard and just started shooting. I headed straight for the escape pods. I wasn't hired to get shot at."

"Why were you hired?"

"Taylor wanted some muscle," Cole told him. It wasn't like he really liked Taylor that much anyway.

"To take back The Barbell," Dylan filled in.

"And to act as his crew until he got whatever it was he was after."

"You don't know what that was?"

"No," Cole replied. "Something to do with the research he was doing before he got bumped from the Commonwealth."

"Okay, now we're getting somewhere," Dylan said. "So why were the Nietzscheans looking for Taylor?"

"Why? Because Nietzscheans don't like looking like idiots, that's why," Cole answered, then remembered the particular Nietzschean towering over him and got back to the point. "Taylor must have ripped them off. One minute we were docked with their ship, the next we're ordered to attack and get the hell out of the system."

"So if Luthor wanted to get revenge, why not just destroy the ship?"

"I don't know, last I saw the Nietzscheans were killing the crew left right and centre," Cole told them. "I was lucky to get the hell out of there when I did. God help anyone left behind."

* * *

When heavy footsteps running towards him came from the ahead, Harper ducked into the nearest room. It was a galley. An expected feeling of deja vu washed over Harper. How could he have seen this when he had never been in there? It was too much to comprehend when he was running for his life.

Thankfully the place was deserted, probably because cooking wasn't considered an essential function when engaging in battle. Nevertheless, Harper was still stuck there. He had no idea where to go or what he was doing and was beginning to think his daring escape plan had needed a little more thought. As he turned around like a lost puppy in the rain, he could heard a shout.

"In here," a hefty Nietzschean male said as he calmly approached from one of the doorways.

Things got worse before they got better, and three more of the Rylisa's crew entered, followed by the lady herself. "Silly little kludge. If you were hungry all you had to do was say so," she mocked.

Harper felt a brief rise of anger that he felt whenever a Nietzschean talked down to him or used _that _word, until he remembered the inhibitor jammed in the side of his head, and bit his tongue. He thanked the divine for small mercies. Rylisa didn't know about the inhibitor yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"Don't you have anything to say?" she asked, but received no answer. "I assume it's dawned upon you that escaping is really a pointless activity."

"It crossed my mind," Harper admitted.

Harper didn't have to worry about holding onto his fear. It was back with a vengeance. Two of the onlookers acted on Rylisa's command and approached him. The first grabbed his left arm and twisted it behind his back harshly. Harper swore he heard some unnatural cracking sounds, then was pushed to his knees in front of a table. The second lackey took his other arm and yanked it onto the tabletop, holding it in place.

Now that Harper was suitably vulnerable, Rylisa walked towards him. "Pointless as it is, I'm afraid I can't allow it to go unpunished." A smile poisoned her features. "And I find that the threat of pain proves as an effective deterrent."

"Then consider me threatened! I am well and truly deterred, trust me, I'm not gonna try this again, you can count on that," Harper rambled.

"I'm afraid you misunderstood," Rylisa said as she carefully began to unwrap the bandages on Harper's hand. "The threat part was implied when we took you prisoner." She dropped the bandages on the table and ran her fingers across his palm.

Harper was in trouble. Even the minor contact sent stabbing sensations up his arm.

Rylisa took his hand in her own and began to dig her thumb into the healing wound. "This part...would be the execution of the threat."

Harper cried out in pain, but she didn't stop even as blood began to cover her own hand. "Stop!" he pleaded. To his surprise, she did, and for a brief moment Harper thought that would be the worst of it. His Nietzschean captor walked away to a shelf and picked up a silver cylinder.

"It's the simple methods of triggering the pain receptors that I find the most interesting," Rylisa mused out loud and gripped Harper's hand again. Then with a sick look of captivation, she poured the salt from the cylinder out onto his palm. Harper wasn't quite prepared for how it would feel. The salt burned and seared its way into the open wound and he couldn't help whimpering as the tears came to the brim of his eyes.

Rylisa loved pain. She was fascinated and sadistically thrilled at the reactions it caused, especially in lower species. She nodded to the pair holding Harper in place and they released him. Harper fell back and cradled his hand. It hurt more than when the scalpel had gone through.

"Take him back," Rylisa ordered with a wave of her hand. As he was dragged past, she stopped them and lifted Harper head roughly. "What is that?" she asked, seeing the inhibitor.

Harper didn't really feel like telling her.

Rylisa let it drop, but made a note to find out later. "I suggest you reconsider my offer before I return. I will only ask one more time."

* * *

End of Chapter Fourteen 


	15. Shift

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Thankies for the feedback, I loves it I does :D More fun and games coming up ;)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN Shift

"If you expect the dust to settle, guaranteed someone will come along with an industrial fan and tell you not to be such a smart-ass."

Blue Tolus Serene

CY 4819-21

* * *

Rommie disconnected with her grander self's database. "Dylan, I've been doing some research on the Dovien-Genghis." 

"What have you found?"

"Apparently many of the pride left their system a hundred and twenty years ago having achieved physical perfection - " Tyr scoffed at that remark, but said nothing more so Rommie continued. " - and set about trying to tune their mental abilities."

"They can't have got very far," Beka mentioned, half serious.

"Their paths must have crossed with Taylor and his experiments," Dylan surmised.

Beka shook her head in disgust. "Then he screwed them over. What an enchanting story."

"A story we're spectators in at the moment," Dylan said. "Have you picked up anything that will lead us to The Barbell or Luthor's ship?"

Rommie answered before anyone else could. "I have a suggestion," she said, and nodded at one of her monitors where a map appeared. It zoomed in on a particular system. "The Dovien system."

"They're going home?" Beka questioned.

"I said some of the pride left the system," Rommie explained. "Many of them stayed behind."

Dylan ran with it. "It's better than nothing. Set a course."

"What else did you find out? Any ideas what they're gonna do with Harper?" Beka asked.

Rommie was careful with her answer. She didn't much like it herself. "Well, they aren't scientists. That's probably why they hired Taylor to conduct their research. I imagine they'll try to get whatever they can out of the Taylor and Rayne. As for Harper...I honestly don't know. But I doubt they treat him like a king."

* * *

Rylisa returned to the med-bay to punish the incompetent guard that allowed her pet to escape. She found the aforementioned guard still out cold on the floor, with the doctor standing over him.

Rylisa gestured for another lackey (one was never far away). "You, deactivate this and put it in the cargo bay. There's no way of knowing what our guest did to it. We can sell it for scrap later."

The man nodded and got to work while Rylisa made her way back down to visit Harper now that he had had more than enough time to reconsider her offer.

* * *

Harper's new accommodation wasn't as, well, accommodating as his last. For one, it was half the size. Harper was already getting claustrophobic when he'd only been in there five minutes. Rylisa's lackeys had dragged him there and left him in a room somewhere in the lower decks, without a word. The sting lingered in his hand and he subconsciously cradled it while he waited - for what, he didn't know.

Rylisa opened the door. Harper wondered absently if anything had changed at all. He was still being held prisoner by a sadist. Rylisa had another one of smiles on her face. He hoped to god she didn't know about the inhibitor.

"I told you I would extend my offer only once more," she began. "Now is your last chance. Help gain control of The Barbell, and I will set you free. You can take an escape pod and set off the beacon so your friends can find you. It's an easy decision. Make it before my patience runs out."

Harper wasn't stupid. He considered the offer. "You'll set me free, and all I have to do is get you control of The Barbell?"

"That's right," Rylisa grinned.

"Sounds like a good deal. I mean, I never liked the guy anyway, right?"

Rylisa's grin grew wider, like it did every time she was about to get what she wanted.

Harper almost enjoyed telling her to go screw herself. He considered her offer, and then the fact that she was probably lying through her teeth. If he secured The Barbell for her, there was no way she'd set him free. He's be turned into a slave, killed or studied. Freed? Not in a million years. "And what exactly makes you think I'd trust the word of a two-bit, imperfect, dog ugly Nietzschean like you?" Despite his words, Harper was still restrained. He knew losing himself in anger would only result in pain, and he tried his utmost to keep control.

Rylisa showed no such restraint and flew into a rage. She hurled herself across the table and grabbed him by the throat, thrusting him against the wall. "How dare you speak to your superior like that! Who do you think you are, kludge! You're nothing!"

The words washed Harper like water, tainted water, but water nonetheless. "Say what you want, I won't help you. And your threats won't work either. I'm dead if I help you or not."

Rylisa loosened her grip and the smile returned to her face. "You think you're friends are coming for you."

Harper didn't reply but his answer was obvious.

"They were. Not anymore. The Andromeda found The Barbell just as we did. There was quite a battle. Taylor destroyed her." Rylisa watched with enjoyment as Harper's eyes widened. "You're friends are dead. No-one is coming for you."

Harper shook his head in denial. "No...no, you're lying." He was afraid. It wasn't possible. No...it _was _possible, and that's what scared him.

"Then why haven't they found you yet? Contacted you? Staged a rescue? It's because they're dead and your precious ship is gone."

There was no way of helping it. There was something about a Nietzschean telling him they'd just killed everyone he knew that really set him off. Harper snapped. "IT'S NOT TRUE!"

The room exploded.

Glass shattered and sparks flew from the lights and the control panel for the door. Then the place was in darkness and everything was silent. It took Harper a moment to realise what had just happened. He had used his abilities. And there was no pain.

* * *

End of Chapter Fifteen 


	16. Fall From Grace

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Lots more chapters to come. Things get better before they get worse - all that jazz ;)

* * *

CHAPTER SIXTEEN Fall from Grace

"Sweet child in the wilderness,

Be careful not to stray;

The path of hope is thinning

And you do not know your way."

Than poem

* * *

Harper and Rylisa were just as shocked as each other and for what seemed like the longest time they just stared at one another. Harper didn't understand it. He hadn't felt any pain when he let himself get angry, which could only mean that either the inhibitor has stopped working, or it had been switched off. Whichever it was, it now presented him with an unexpected opportunity. It was like a switch had been flipped inside him and suddenly there was nothing beyond his capability.

Rylisa suddenly tried to get out of the room but Harper willed the door to shut. She looked scared. Realising her position, she attempted to keep her cool. "This changes things somewhat," she said.

Harper brought his hand up to catch Rylisa's sidearm, a gauss gun. "Yeah," he said, finding a slight smile. "I'd say so."

"Rayne said you hadn't experienced any desirable symptoms," Rylisa said, stalling.

"Aw, I'm sorry. Did I mess up your plans?" Harper replied, madness dripping into his voice. "Yeah, I know the feeling. Let's see, a friend of mine blew her brains out recently, I got infected with a virus that, granted, gives me a hell of a rush but will eventually kill me; I've been kidnapped - twice - by really not very nice people oh and just this second? I found out all my friends are dead and my home has been blown up. But, I mean, someone _lied _to you, so I can't really relate."

At that moment the door behind Rylisa opened and three of her crew entered.

Rylisa had never been so relieved in her life, though she would rather die than show it. "Shoot him," she sneered.

Harper smiled. "Hi guys."

The three opened fire but despite their flawless aim, none of the shots met their target as Harper instinctively deflected them. When their guns had run dry, Harper shot each of them with inhuman precision through their hearts. "Welcome to the party."

Rylisa knew she was going to die if she didn't think of something within the next twenty seconds. Unfortunately, thinking had never been her strongest point. She never believed in any kind of Divine force either, although what happened next made her reconsider for a brief moment.

Harper was ready to get sweet revenge on Rylisa when his concentration suddenly wavered. This didn't go unnoticed by the Nietzschean, who took the opportunity while it was presented, to get the hell out of there, and seal the door behind her.

* * *

Rayne bled from numerous wounds to his face, chest and arms. Rylisa had taken great pleasure in torturing him, but at least the pleasure was not all hers. When he heard the distant sound of crunching metal and explosions, coupled with the sudden jolt that rippled through the ship, Rayne knew that it was time to start moving. The first stage was to get out of the chair that he was strapped in - it was going to be painful but after Rylisa, it would seem like nothing.

* * *

Harper felt himself falling into the same dream state he had encountered before. He was suddenly standing in what looked like the command centre of a ship. It didn't look The Barbell, it wasn't Commonwealth, he was pretty sure it was Nietzschean. As things began to get clearer, he could make out sounds. There were alarms, fires crackling and heavy breathing. Voices came to light.

"Taylor? Rayne?" a blond man on the viewscreen said.

A woman leaning over a console in front of him replied; "I don't know." It was Rylisa. Harper walked into the room, knowing that nothing there was real - yet. There were bodies scattered over the floor, bloodied and battered, and total mess everywhere. Rylisa herself looked like she had been in a Magog feeding pit. "If I die, so help me I'm taking that filth down with me. I'm setting the auto-destruct."

"Rylisa," a new, emotionless voice said. It came from behind where Harper was standing, and he turned to see its origin. He only caught a glimpse of the blood-drenched horror before the dream ended and he was back in the cell. Instead of the disorientated feeling that had followed the previous visions, this one took a lot more out of him. It was a minute before he became fully aware of his surroundings, but when he did the anger returned. Andromeda had been destroyed, everyone he cared about was dead, and the bitch responsible had eluded him. But that didn't matter. Even if it took some time to get his revenge, it wasn't as if he had anywhere to be.

Outside, Rylisa was frantically trying to resolve the situation. What she really wanted to do was tear Rayne's head off for lying to her, but that would have to wait.

"Maslen, fill that room with gas, poison, _anything_ just make him unconscious and do it now," she ordered the man who had been watching from adjacent room.

Maslen had only just got to his feet after being thrown backwards from the shockwave of Harper's outburst earlier, but attempted to carry out his superior's orders without trying to figure out what was going on."I can't. The system's damaged, it would flood the whole deck," he told Rylisa.

"Then evacuate the deck!" she screamed in return, and left the room.

Maslen hadn't a clue what was going on but he opened a communication channel anyway. "Orders from Rylisa, evacuate this deck immediately."

Harper heard the announcement from his cell and finally snapped back to harsh reality. He turned to the long, thin gap where the window used to be before it had been destroyed and could see the man speaking into the comm. Rage and power once again flooded through him as he looked into the eyes of the stranger. In them he saw every Nietzschean piece of garbage that had ever crossed him.

The anger was fuelled by the power that travelled through his body and the power only served to satiate his anger. He focused his energies on the wall and summoning his mental strength, ripped the very structural supports out. Sparks flew as the wires and energy circuits than ran through it were broken. Maslen looked positively terrified - something that Harper celebrated in witnessing. Once the wall was completely dislodged, he grinned madly as he thrust it towards the cowering Nietzschean, crushing him under its weight.

The adrenaline that charged through Harper was unlike anything else he'd ever felt before. In that moment he forgot that his power was a result of a virus. He forgot that it would probably kill him or drive him to suicide in the end. He even forgot that his friends and the people who loved him most were dead. The only memory left was the rush he had felt, and there was only one drive that remained.

More.

* * *

End of Chapter Sixteen 


	17. Power & Struggle

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: A couple of chapters for you guys, hope you're still enjoying the story :)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Power & Struggle

"There is no drive as powerful as the desire for power itself."

Mai-Rau-Sing

CY 2333

* * *

Dylan returned to Command having been to see Trance. Tyr and Rommie were making repairs while they headed the The Dovien system.

"Any word on a cure for Harper yet?" Beka asked as soon as she heard the doors open.

"Not yet, but she's working on it," Dylan replied.

Beka studied his expression. "There's something else isn't there? What is it?"

Dylan hesitated before answering. "The virus...was already in it's final stages by this point in the infection. But only in some of the cases," he added quickly.

"So...Harper could already be insane. Or dead," Beka stated coldly. It didn't sink in until a few moments later. "And we don't even know if we're going in the right direction," she said, more angrily.

Andromeda's image appeared on the screen. "It's important to be positive. Trance said there's just as much chance we'll get there in time."

Beka snapped. "What's the point in getting there in time if she doesn't even have a cure! So we can watch him go nuts and kill himself? You know what, I'd rather not show up at all if that's gonna happen! I can't watch that."

"You won't have to," Dylan assured. "Trance is going to find a cure, we're going to get Harper and everything is going to be fine."

"How do you know?"

Dylan looked determined. "Because that's what we're going to make happen."

* * *

"Maslen, why haven't you carried out your orders? Maslen! Maslen, respond!" Rylisa was in Command, trying to get some answers. The situation had spiralled out of control faster than she was ready for it.

"Should we inform Luthor?"

Rylisa shot a glare at the insolent fool who dared make such a suggestion in her presence. "I can handle one pathetic kludge," she spat. But her claims were easier said than done. "Where is he?"

"Moving through corridor C9 on deck 12."

"That's near where Rayne is...was he evacuated?"

"No, he's still in the interrogation room."

Rylisa found a happy thought. "This should be interesting."

* * *

Harper walked through the corridor of the abandoned deck, stretching the walls as he went and listening to the creaks of scrunching metal as they echoed through the ship. He knew he couldn't play around too much with the structure of the ship, or it would lose integrity and that would be a bad thing. He wasn't done having fun yet.

Harper came across a closed door with a coded lock on it. He ripped the lock from the wall by simply thinking about it for the briefest moment. The door opened automatically and Harper was standing face to face with someone he didn't care for much at all.

* * *

Rayne cradled his hand after popping his thumb back into joint. The skin was deeply wounded where he had pulled it free from his metal restraints, but at least he was out. He picked up his items from the far table and went to leave, knowing the deck was probably empty by now. But before he could attempt to open the sealed door, it opened from the outside. He was face to face with Harper.

"Ah. I was wondering when you would show up."

Harper looked quizzically at his previous captor and thrust him backwards into the room. "You may find it interesting to note that the inhibitor doesn't appear to be working anymore. Now, why do you think that might be?" He caught his breath and pulled himself up from the floor. "I switched it off. Before I was captured."

"Why?" Harper asked, coming into the room.

"You were the only leverage I had," Rayne replied, brushing himself off. "Rylisa didn't know what you could do, and I wanted her to find out the hard way. Oh please tell me you killed her in a long and excruciating manner."

"All in good time. I'd be more worried about what I'm going to do to you right now."

"Now, that wouldn't be in your best interests. Get me out of here and I'll take the inhibitor, and let you get back to the Andromeda, that's what you want isn't it?"

Harper lunged at Rayne. He wanted to kill him with his hands, feel the life draining from him. He grabbed him by the throat. "You and Taylor destroyed Andromeda!"

Rayne laughed despite the fear that crept through him. "Who told you that? Rylisa? And you believed her? The Barbell is no match for the Andromeda, you must know that."

Rayne's words washed over Harper. The hope that his friends might still be alive hardly affected him. He was losing himself. "It doesn't matter. I'm gonna kill her anyway."

"Power's a wonderful thing isn't it? Addictive, like a drug. And certainly useful. You're going to help me get off this ship, and then you're going to help me regain control of The Barbell."

Harper laughed. "And why the hell would I do that?"

"Because I still have this." Rayne pulled out the device from his pocket and activated it. Harper went down like the gravity had suddenly been turned up. He writhed on the floor in utter agony. Rayne knelt down beside him. "I'm surprised you didn't see this in one of your visions. Had anymore of those?"

Of course there was no reply. Harper was clenching his teeth so hard if his tongue had been in the way he would have bitten it off.

"Oh well, no matter." Rayne watched undisturbed in agony before him for a few more moments, then switched the inhibitor off and smiled. "I'm rather fond of power too."

* * *

End of Chapter Seventeen 


	18. The Mind Leads, The Body Follows

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN The Mind Leads, The Body Follows

"Intelligence and power are a deadly combination but

there's nothing like bad memories to fuel the fire."

Cpt. Jame Areset

CY 9345

* * *

The pain wouldn't stop. Harper wanted to hurt Rayne so badly the inhibitor kept registering his attempts to do so and causing him the relentless shocks. He couldn't control the anger and so it just went on.

"You know, we never fully tested the inhibitor to its limit, so I don't know exactly at what point the body or the mind gives up dealing with the pain," Rayne said, standing over Harper as he thrashed on the floor. "I shall be interested to find out, but I'm sure you're not quite as curious."

It must have been three or four minutes before Harper finally regained control, but in those minutes he lost and gained something. Whether it was caused by the virus's natural course or a result of the pain stimulating its rapid evolution, in that short eternity Harper was changed.

Rayne, deeply immersed in his power high, failed to see the minor change of expression and demeanour. "That was impressive, but pointless. You should learn your place. Get up," Rayne ordered without compassion but Harper didn't move. Rayne was not a patient man, and his foot connected with Harper's ribs without giving him much of a chance to stand.

Harper felt the impact as only a minor sensation on his numb body, but he recoiled anyway. Perhaps it was only his mind that was numb.

"Get up!" Rayne shouted, and kicked him again.

Harper somehow gathered the strength to roll over and with the greatest effort, pushed himself from the floor and stood.

"Good. Now we're going to work our way up to the Command centre, and kill everyone in our way. Actually, it's you who will be doing all the killing," Rayne explained. He was still in some pain from his torture session with Rylisa, but he was enjoying his power fix so much he didn't really care. "I'll switch off the inhibitor as and when I see fit so you can take out the Nietzscheans. Try anything and I'll send you right back to the floor."

Harper only half listened. In his mind he was reeling from the new sensations inside him. It was as if he could feel the energy in everything - the ship, the walls, himself, Rayne, it was all the same energy. It was ready to be manipulated, and Harper knew he had the power to do so. This must have been the peak of the virus' capability and what eventually destroyed the research team on The Outset. Though he couldn't see it, Harper was consumed completely by the strength of his new sense. All he could think about was killing Rayne and freeing himself from the inhibitor. He breathed calmly, gaining focus and controlling his anger. He needed to find some kind of balance for what he was about to do.

"I said, do you understand me?" Rayne repeated threateningly..

Harper met him in the eye. He took a moment before attacking.

Rayne was taken completely by surprise as Harper lunged at him. But it wasn't just that he had attacked, it was that his face lacked any kind of emotion. It was hard and cold as he knocked the inhibitor's controller from his hand and fought. For all Rayne's High-Guard training, the surprise of the attack had caught him out, and Harper got a few good hits in before Rayne pushed him back. Both men wildly searched the floor for the controller. Harper saw it first and grabbed it, still suppressing the anger that was stockpiling inside him.

Rayne knew it was all over. Harper switched off the inhibitor and cautiously attempted to use his powers to float the device. It worked, there was no pain. Harper smiled at Rayne's fearful expression and let the device fall to the floor, where he brought his foot down on it hard. "No more power."

Rayne's refused to show his fear and his it behind a mask of warped superiority. "Kill me if you must. At least I'll know that your death will come soon. I just hope your friends are there to see you at the end."

Free of the inhibitor and with a higher power than ever before, Harper slammed him into the bulkhead hard enough to leave an dent in the wall and even pull down part of the ceiling. Rayne's limp body collapsed onto the floor.

* * *

"Rylisa, something's happening on deck 12. Structural integrity has been decreased at least seven percent in the space of twenty minutes. Two percent of that was just a moment ago."

"Incoming communication from Luthor."

"The deck has not been flooded, we must stop the kludge!"

Rylisa listened to the barrage of information and said nothing. She was not enjoying her first day of commanding her own ship.

"Get a team together to apprehend the prisoner, find out if Rayne is still alive, seal off command and tell Luthor we're a little busy at the moment." She spat her orders with renewed fury. "Things may be going to hell but I'll be damned if it's because of a single mudfoot."

* * *

Harper found himself dazed after getting rid of Rayne. The incredible change that had overtaken him was like a new sense and such an overwhelming ability wasn't easy to handle. Neither was the fact that if the virus had reached its pinnacle, all that was left was insanity. Harper couldn't see that he was already well on his way. He was so deeply rapt in his new power he couldn't see that his actions could be seen as that of a madman.

He looked at his hands as if he could see the energy streaming through them. The energy he could now feel, pulsating around and through him. He was connected to it, not only because he was a part of it but because he could control it. Harper closed his eyes and allowed his new sense to take over. In his mind he saw the room he was in, Rayne's body on the floor. He could see outside in the corridor, the galley, the cells, but it was as if he was looking at it, feeling it all at the same time. He could see the whole deck, even places he had never been before, but as he was about to go further, his attention was drawn to new energy entering. In his strange out of body state, Harper focused on the source and saw a team of Nietzschean entering a door not far from the interrogation room where he was standing. He couldn't hear their voices but they were carrying weapons. It was obvious what they were there to achieve.

They had no idea what they were dealing with. It dawned on Harper how little their lives meant to him. He felt no remorse for them, no compassion. He had already killed three of them without flinching. And he was going enjoy killing the next three, and the next.

He opened his eyes. He was ready.

* * *

End of Chapter Eighteen 


	19. Fall

TITLE: The Unintended

NOTES: Woohoo, you guys just beat my previous review record! Not that I'm, uh, fickle about these things or anything...hehe. I tried to upload yesterday but the site was down or somat so here's chapter nineteen :) And I promise I won't leave it too long for the next one.

CHAPTER NINETEEN Fall

"Friends are lost and he is broken

He cannot hear their calls

There is no-one there to catch him

All he can do is fall."

Ibsian poem

* * *

Harper found a sufficient hiding place. As he lie in wait, he noticed his hand was still seeping blood from where Rylisa and dug her thumb into the wound. He had lost his bandages then too. It crossed his mind that since the virus that was rampaging within him was passed on by the blood, it was just as well everyone he had come into contact with was dead - or going to be. 

They were moving along the corridor quietly and didn't know they were being watched. And how could they? Harper didn't need his eyes to see them.

"If it is just one little runt, why would Rylisa send us all to kill him?"

"He's got the virus. We don't know what he can do."

"Quiet. He might be hiding somewhere."

Rylisa watched silently from Command as the lambs walked willfully to the slaughter. And a slaughter it was. Harper jumped down from above them and took them by surprise. A few shots were fired but they did no good. It was over within minutes. Their screams were heard throughout the ship and run within Rylisa's ears. At that point she knew there was no choice.

"Give me shipwide," she ordered. A communication channel opened. "This is Rylisa. Evacuate the ship immediately and dock with The Barbell. Last escape pod hold for me."

The others in Command looked as if she had gone mad and truth be told she wasn't far from it.

* * *

Harper revelled in the bloodbath he had created. It felt like he was catching up on all the time he had wished a Nietzschean dead, finally getting retribution for a lifetime of horror caused by the race - and he was loving every minute. 

Harper had heard the order to evacuate and was highly amused by it. He had them running scared and it felt good. He made his way through the ship, heading for Command. Anyone who got in his way regretted it for all the four seconds they remained alive. With every kill his power lust grew until he finally made it to Command, where the sweetest kill of all was waiting.

Instead of barging in, Harper hesitated. He remembered his vision. Rylisa was on her own, the others in the room were dead, but how? He decided to check out the room before he went in. He focused on leaving his body and seeing through the doors. The room was still full. Rylisa was there with seven or so lackeys.

Harper returned to his body. He would have to get rid of them before he went in. That was what his vision had told him, and that is what had to happen. He smiled as a plan popped into his head.

* * *

Rylisa finally built up the confidence she needed to contact Luthor. The first escape pods should be leaving soon and he would probably want an explanation. Before she could do so, all hell broke loose. A huge power hum built up and then every console exploded violently. Some were electrocuted, some were caught in the blast. Rylisa barely managed to keep herself from the fires or flying debris. One of the explosion caught her and sent her to the floor. Alarms sounded and fires raged. She knew there wasn't much time. He was already there. She quicky opened a channel to Luthor while she still had the chance. 

"What is going on over there?" Luthor demanded before he fully saw what was on his viewscreen.

"There's nothing I can do, he's too powerful. I've ordered an evacuation," Rylisa told him.

Luthor couldn't quite comprehend how the situation had come to this. "Taylor? Rayne?" he asked.

"I don't know." Rylisa replied. She failed to notice the doors open behind her. "If I die, so help me I'm taking that filth down with me. I'm setting the auto-destruct."

"Rylisa," a cold voice said.

She turned to see a blood-stained horror staring back at her.

Luthor watched helplessly at what was unfolding. The last thing he saw was the kludge's grinning face as he destroyed the monitor.

* * *

Escape pods detached from the ship until there was only one remaining. Lex and Lucien were the last to get to the pod where the others were waiting. Jaret, the most senior of the group was watching the events taking place in Command. 

"Prepare for launch."

"What about Rylisa?"

Jaret switched the monitor off. "Rylisa isn't coming."

* * *

On the Andromeda the tension had not been broken. Determination and anticipation were coexisting awkwardly with one another. They had been streaming towards the Dovien system but had so far seen no sign of The Barbell or the Nietzscheans. 

"I'm detecting some ships two slip points away."

"It has to be them," Beka said with a renewed hope.

"Step on it," Dylan told her.

Beka didn't need to be told twice. "We'll be there in ten."

* * *

Harper was finished. There was no life left on the ship bar himself. He looked at the massacre that surrounded him and felt nothing. He had lost himself completely in the power of killing and even after it was done with, there was still nothing. 

"Auto-destruct set. Ten minutes and counting," the ship spoke.

Harper turned around to see Rylisa's battered form reaching with all her strength to set the auto-destruct sequence. She didn't even give Harper the pleasure of finishing her off. All life left her and she fell into darkness.

* * *

End of Chapter Nineteen 


	20. Last Man Standing

TITLE: The Unintended

NOTES: Ta for the compliments, glad you're enjoying it :D

CHAPTER TWENTY Last Man Standing

"It was inevitable. But that didn't make it any easier."

Admiral Trellek Baird

CY 9562

* * *

Harper was close to panicking. He couldn't shut down the auto-destruct sequence. The main reason being, he had practically destroyed most of the Command centre, and he everyone who might have the codes to stop the sequence were lying in a bloody mess on the floor.

He closed his eyes and frantically searched the ship with his mind, looking for anyone who was still alive but found no-one. The corridors were empty of life, filled only with bodies. There were also no escape pods left. Harper was about to give up and return from his search when looked in the cargo bay. There was one person left who might be able to help him.

* * *

"What's the plan when we get there?" Beka asked as she piloted slipstream. They were minutes away from arriving at the two stationary ships.

"Disable both ships and ask them politely to give up Harper," Dylan replied.

Beka glanced at him. "And you seriously expect them to do that?

"No," he answered. "But at least we can say we tried."

"And what if we're too late? What then?" Tyr asked, not one to sidestep the issues. "As far as I know Trance has no cure yet."

"No, she doesn't. But we don't know how far along the virus is yet. Anything could have gone on since we last saw Harper."

"If you ask me you're being naive."

"Then it's just as well nobody asked you."

"Harper has a weakened immune system, yes? Then it's safe to assume the virus will have progressed quicker than in the crew of The Outset. He may already be gone."

"Will you just hold off condemning him to death until we actually get there?" Beka snapped. Tyr was telling the truth but no-one wanted to hear it and no-one wanted to accept it.

* * *

Harper waited until his last shred of hope arrived in Command. He reached her with his mind and told her to come to him. "Do you know how to stop the auto-destruct?" he asked her immediately.

"I am only capable of making medical diagnoses. Please rephrase the question in terms of a medical query."

Harper ran his hands through his hair. The AI was a longshot but he had to try.

"Five minutes to auto-destruct," the ship announced, as if mocking him.

"You must have some way to connect to the ship!"

The AI replied as he feared she would. "I am only capable of making medical diagnoses. Please rephrase the question in terms of a medical query."

Harper looked down at Rylisa's body. She had left him to die, and it was going to work. Just when he thought it was all over, he felt something. A new energy seemed to appear out of nowhere and it was big.

Emotions he thought had died inside him resurfaced when he realised.

"Andromeda."

* * *

"There they are," Beka declared, a rush of emotion soaring through her.

"This isn't good. The Nietzschean ship is half destroyed, she's barely holding together," Rommie told the others, checking her readings.

"I'm only reading one lifesign onboard."

The room fell silent. They had been here before and remembered all too well what had happened.

"What about The Barbell?"

"There are a number of lifesigns onboard. There has been no activity. Perhaps they haven't gained control of the ship yet."

* * *

Luthor strode to where the escape pods had docked with the ship to meet the surviving crew. He was not happy. "Did you bring the prisoners? Taylor? Rayne?"

"Taylor is here but Rayne..."

Luthor cut him off. "Just get me Taylor, NOW!"

Moments later Taylor was dragged before him, looking terrible. "Luthor. So nice to see you again. What's the matter, things not going quite as you planned?" he said weakly.

"Give me the codes to The Barbell," Luthor ordered simply.

Taylor scoffed. "Why should I do that?"

"Because the Andromeda has just shown up and if you don't tell me the codes to take control of this ship we will be easier to apprehend than a Magog at a beauty pageant."

* * *

"What are we going to do?" Beka asked urgently. "How do we know which ship he's on?" She couldn't believe they had come this far only to have to wait some more.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tyr mumbled.

"Wait, Dylan The Barbell is powering up," Andromeda relayed. "They're opening a slip portal."

"What!"

"Should we go after them?"

"What if Harper's not onboard?"

"What if he is? We'll lose him again!"

Their questions were answered for them when Andromeda received a communication from the Nietzschean ship. But they were not prepared for the horrific vision that appeared on the screen. At first they didn't recognise him. He was covered in blood. Only his eyes remained white but even they didn't look like his eyes. They were empty and soulless. Dylan, Tyr and Rommie saw the worst case scenario playing out before them. Beka looked at the man and saw only a stranger.

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty 


	21. Timing

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: I do love my cliffies ;)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Timing

"When shadow stalks you, it would be wise to make haste."

Mai-Rau-Sing

CY 2327

* * *

Harper could see his friends struggling with how he must have appeared to them, but he had very little time to consider their feelings right now. He got right to the point. "The auto-destruct sequence has started, I can't shut it down. There's only three minutes left."

Beka leapt from her seat, mainly because of the gravity of the situation but part of her didn't want to look at those dead eyes for a second longer. "I'm on it."

"I'll open the bay for you," Harper said, before turning away and switching off the communication.

"I can be back here in time but it's gonna be close," Beka said as she was at the door.

"You're assuming that he isn't lying," Tyr called after her. She stopped in her tracks and turned. "Were you looking at the same monitor I was? We knew us being too late was a possibility," Tyr added.

Beka couldn't believe what she was hearing. "He asked for our help."

Tyr remained calm and collected. "What if he's lying?"

"You wanna wait three minutes and find out?" Beka snapped back, before turning on her heels and leaving.

"Rommie, you better go with her," Dylan ordered. He too had been shocked at what they had seen but it hadn't quite sunk in yet. They had been just struggling to get to this point, he had failed to consider the possibility that it would all be in vain. Now that it looked like that was the case, Dylan wasn't prepared to handle it.

"Perhaps we should find out if Trance has anything that will help?" Tyr suggested, trying to bring the others back to reality.

"You're right, I should...I'll go and meet her, tell her what's happening," Dylan said. "Prepare for slipstream. We'll need to get out of here as soon as the Maru is back onboard."

* * *

Harper and the AI arrived outside the docking bay. He found himself dealing with strange and unexpected feelings as he waited. For what seemed like forever this ship had been his world. He had forgotten his friends and Andromeda. He had forgotten the outside world completely and now it was coming to pick him up. Had his feelings for the others changed? He wasn't sure. Would they accept him now he was superior to them? Now that he had become a murderer?

There was also the issue of how they would react to his new abilities. The last they saw he was moving trivial objects across the room. They had no idea how far he had come. They might try to take them away from him, and he couldn't have that. Harper decided that until he was sure of their intentions, he would play down his powers. At least for as long as he could stand it.

Of course, all these thoughts would be irrelevant if he didn't survive the next sixty seconds.

Beka fired up the Maru and Rommie stood behind her manning the other systems. Beka was thankful for her presence, not because she thought she needed protection from Harper but because it meant she had a reason not to cry her eyes out. She could see everything falling apart around her. With every inch of her being she wanted to shun Tyr's harsh words aside but she already knew it. They were too late.

The same thought had not escaped Rommie. She watched Beka struggle with her emotion as she struggled with her own. She couldn't understand how her engineer, her friend, a funny, albeit annoying little person could be transformed into something so alien.

* * *

Dylan arrived in med-deck where Trance had been endlessly working on a cure for Harper. She was deep in thought, studying something under a microscope when Dylan walked in.

"Trance, we've found Harper."

Trance was a little startled but quickly adjusted to the news. "Really? Is he alright?"

"It doesn't look good," Dylan admitted. "Have you got anything at all that can help him if it's the worst case?"

Trance's expression gave him his answer.

* * *

Beka and Rommie docked with the Nietzschean ship and set the Maru down, knowing time was of the essence. Rommie went to meet Harper. He looked even worse in person. His skin and clothing were caked in blood and his hair was matted with it. He was with a woman who looked like the pinnacle of cleanliness compared to him.

"There's not much time, we have to get out of the system," Harper said, coming onboard with the woman in tow.

"We'll make it," Rommie told him. "Who's your friend?"

"An AI. She helped me escape," Harper replied, feeling the awkwardness as much as Rommie was.

They got to the cockpit and Beka took off without even looking at him. Not long after they had left the docking bay Harper asked a question he needed to know the answer to. "Does Trance have a cure?"

Rommie paused before replying quietly. "No. She doesn't."

Harper made no signs to show the relief he felt. He didn't want to give up his abilities. Even if they were going to kill him. He wanted them for as long as possible. As they passed through the docking bay doors Harper felt himself falling. He was having another vision.

He found himself in a room he recognised - his own quarters on Andromeda. The lights were turned down and he could here frantic crying and whimpering. When things came into focus he saw who was making the sounds - he was. His future self, though no longer covered in blood, still looked an utter mess. His eyes were sore from crying, he looked hysterical...and he had a gun in his hand. Harper couldn't shut his eyes to the scene before him. His future self brought the gun to his head, and ended his life.

As quickly as the vision began it ended and Harper was back in the Maru, just pulling into Andromeda's docking bay. It was apparent no-one had noticed his brief absence from reality.

Beka knew it was a stupid question but she asked it anyway. "Are you alright?"

Harper found no reply that would satisfy her.

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty-One 


	22. Apex

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Ta for the feedback, I do love getting it! Still a few more chapters to go, thanks for sticking with me for this long. This is actually the longest fic I've ever written, hehe.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Apex

"You ask why I weep, to which I reply;

'A friend to a stranger in the blink of an eye'"

Hera Matuen 'The Broken'

CY 6784

* * *

Rommie looked worriedly at Harper. He was staring into space as they docked, his expression unchanged. When they set down he walked out of the Maru without saying anything, the new AI following closely behind. Rommie caught up with him. . "Harper, what happened over there? Has the virus progressed?"

"Brace for Slipstream," Andromeda announced as soon as the Maru was safely docked. If her calculations were accurate, they were cutting it very fine.

Harper turned to Rommie. For a moment he considered forming an answer for her, but there were no words to describe it. "I have to go and clean up," he said, backing down from the conversation. But before he could even turn away the whole ship jolted suddenly.

Andromeda's voice sounded throughout the ship. "Senior crew report to Command."

"Shockwave from the Nietzschean ship?" Rommie asked her grander self.

"We entered Slipstream just as we caught the tail end. The Slipstream drive has been seriously damaged. We're out of control."

Beka and Rommie started their run to Command. Harper lingered for a moment, then followed.

There was chaos in Command. Dylan and Trance had reached there before the others. Tyr was struggling to keep the ship under control in the Slipstream.

"What's going on?" Beka asked when they arrived. She went to her station next to Tyr and Rommie went to hers. Harper remained in the background, observing what was going on. Every few seconds the room would shake. It felt like she was under tremendous stress.

"The shockwave from the Nietzschean ship hit us as the ship was entering Slipstream. Now I can't exit," Tyr explained, the concentration evident on his expression.

Beka watched his movements and the Slipstream and knew even if she was piloting they wouldn't have a chance. They were all over the place.

"The Slipstream Core is overloading," Andromeda reported.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Dylan exclaimed.

Unlike the others, Harper was calm. Andromeda had such an amazing energy, he couldn't believe he had never felt it before. Even when he was jacked-in he had never felt anything like this. The crew, too, had their own energies, all so different.

Then, as if a switch had been flicked, it all made sense. All three of his new senses began to merge and work in unison. Harper could feel the energy of Andromeda and of the slipstream. He could leave his body and see the entire ship and her path from every angle. And he could see what was going to happen if he failed.

"I can't get a handle on it, we're out of control!"

"Rommie, find us the nearest exit!"

"It's too far, we won't make it before the core overloads and destroys the ship."

Harper's mind rose above the shouts and minor explosions and left the confines of his own body. He simultaneously viewed the exterior of the ship, the slipstream core, the engines and the tendrils of slipstream. His visions, which he had mastered, allowed him to visualise what the blue ribbons would do. Focussing on tying the energy of the ship to his control, but at the same time still monitoring the time and space surrounding it, Harper began to move Andromeda.

Tyr felt the little remaining control he had over steering vanish. For a moment he thought they were done for; they all did. They should have been blown into a trillion pieces and scattered throughout slipstream but instead the Andromeda was gliding through perfectly as if there was nothing wrong.

"Tyr?" Beka asked.

"It's not me."

"Rommie?" Dylan asked, also viewing the sudden change.

"It wasn't me."

"We should be dead by now."

"You need human instinct to pilot slipstream. If Tyr isn't doing it, who is?"

"I believe Harper may have something to do with it," Andromeda told them.

Under normal circumstances, this would mean that Harper had fixed the problem with a solution that was nothing short of genius. But normal circumstances seemed like a distant memory. Each crewmember turned and saw Harper standing by the doors to Command. His eyes were closed.

"Is he...?"

"It's not possible..."

Harper finally saw the exited Andromeda from slipstream. He had experienced the utter power of energy, felt and manipulated the very fabric of existence. For years he had been saying it, but in those moments for the first time Harper was as close as one could get to being a god. However, there was one flaw in this hypothesis. Gods don't falter.

In what seemed like the smallest fraction of a second it all became too much. Harper's mental outreach snapped back into his body too quickly for comfort He opened his eyes and was suddenly wracked with shock. He wasn't the only one.

"Harper..." Trance breathed. She didn't know how to deal with what she had just witnessed. On the one hand it appeared Harper had powers that superceded her own. On the other she was seriously worried for his health.

"That was...amazing!" Beka exclaimed.

It was Dylan who noticed that Harper did not look at all well. And given that he looked like hell before, this was pretty bad. His eyes were darting back and forth and he appeared to be trembling. There was a fleck of bright red blood coming from his nose.

Rommie caught him just as his eyes rolled back into his head and all strength fled his body.

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty-Two 


	23. The Calm

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Another chapter for y'all. Keep the feedback coming!

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE The Calm

"There may be calm before a storm, but sometimes it's the calm that's the killer."

Unknown saying

* * *

The world had stopped. Two days ago Harper had come back to the crew of the Andromeda, only to leave them again. He had been sleeping since he collapsed in Command. Well, Beka liked to call it sleep. Trance had used words like 'catatonic' and 'comatose' to describe his state. 'Sleep' was much sweeter, and Harper deserved something sweet.

Beka sat next to his still form in med-deck while Trance busied herself elsewhere in the room. None of them had expected the tremendous display of power Harper had shown. He had changed so much in such a short time. Beka had barely left his side since his return. She didn't know how to feel. Halfway between grieving for a lost friend and praying for him to open his eyes and make some kind of cheesy quip, she was stuck in an emotional limbo. Like the others, she had run through what happened over and over in her mind.

* * *

Two days earlier...

Trance was over by his side in a heartbeat when Harper collapsed. She feared the worst when she checked for a pulse.

"What's happening to him?" Dylan asked urgently.

"We need to get him to med-deck straight away," Trance replied without answering the question.

As they carried Harper to med-deck they were silent and tension filled the air. Trance wouldn't answer anyone's questions. She had a good idea of what had happened but she didn't want to say anything before she was sure. The others held their breath as they waited to hear what she had to say after her various scans. When she finally spoke, her words were ominous. "Harper's suffered severe trauma. I don't think he'll be waking up for a while."

Dylan was immediately pushed for further explanation. "What happened? I mean, what we saw was...I still can't believe he moved the entire ship through Slipstream."

"He saved us. I don't find that hard to believe," Beka said sadly.

"The human brain isn't meant to contain that kind of power," Trance interjected. "Harper's mind was trying to capacitate it all, which was causing tremendous pressure on his cerebral cortex. Effectively, his brain overloaded."

"So we're too late. The virus is going to kill him," Rommie deduced.

Trance shook her head. "The virus is no longer present in Harper's system."

"I thought you said you didn't have a cure?" Tyr said.

"It wasn't me. Harper's immune system managed to combat the virus by itself," Trance told them.

"Even with his weakened immune system?"

"The virus wasn't designed to kill, it was designed to give the recipient advanced mental abilities, and it did just that. It replicated faster than in the other hosts we saw, because of Harper's weakened immune system, but it was just a matter of time before he was able to combat it."

"Well, that's good news right?"

Trance turned away from them, a tell tale sign that all was not well. She spoke her next words with difficulty. "The physical damage the virus caused is nothing compared to the psychological impact. Harper's had access to powers that not even I...that none of us can imagine and when he wakes up he's not going to have them anymore. It's like taking away a drug after the user has become completely dependent on it."

"That's why Shyla committed suicide," Beka deduced sadly. She knew all too well what is was like to suffer withdrawal, and from what Trance was saying, this was ten times worse.

"We're not going to let that happen to Harper," Dylan insisted defiantly. "He can get through this. And we're going to help him."

Trance desperately wanted to believe him but this time Dylan's confidence did not stir her own. "You should all get some rest, we've been up for a while."

If Trance hadn't mentioned it, they wouldn't have noticed how tired were. Even Tyr's eyelids getting heavy. Dylan, Rommie and Beka left med-deck with the Nietzschean in tow.

"He didn't seem..." Beka began, but trailed off. "He didn't even use his powers until we needed help."

Dylan knew she was trying to make things right in her mind. He decided to give her some comfort. "He's strong. Maybe the virus didn't do as much damage as we thought."

Tyr scoffed. The other turned to glare at him.

"Everyone on that ship was dead but Harper. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who what happened. What state of mind do you suppose he was in when he slaughtered half a Nietzschean pride?"

Beka was first to jump to Harper's defence. "There's no proof he did that."

"Besides the fact he was covered in blood and the self-destruct had been set?" Tyr returned. "Denial helps nothing. You should accept the facts and prepare for when that boy wakes up." He left the others reeling and returned to his quarters. He was aware of the harshness of his words but tiptoeing around the obvious issue was pointless. It wasn't that he was fine with Harper being an insane, suicidal murderer - quite the opposite. There was even pangs of guilt rolling around in him somewhere for letting it happen. But Tyr was a man who accepted bad news when it was in plain sight. But for someone so set in his ways, he was still finding it hard to deny that he cared a little more than he let on.

* * *

When med-deck was empty again, Trance realised there was no point in working on a cure anymore and she was left with nothing to do. Nothing but prepare for Harper's wake. It wasn't long before she realised she had no idea of how to do that. She turned away from her abandoned work and saw Harper on the bed. She didn't hold back the tears, not knowing if he would ever come back to her.

* * *

Two days later, nothing much had changed. There was still a horrid misery rampant in every corridor and room. Harper was still sleeping. Things were quiet. After some forlorn discussions the senior crew had decided to put Harper in restraints so when he woke up he couldn't hurt himself, or anyone else. Repairs from the damage the bad slipstream journey were under way.

It was early in the morning, three or four was Trance's guess. She kept losing track of time lately. She had been crying again, it was difficult not to when things were so terribly wrong. The golden alien had barely left med-deck since the events two days ago. Andromeda had been monitoring everyone closely. Everyone's behaviour had been erratic of late, which didn't surprise her. Behavioural patterns often changed when the crew were in mourning, or dealing with a case of serious injury or sickness. Now things were somewhere in between.

Trance sat by Harper's bed and looked at his hand. The injury from the soldering iron had been aggravated severely, something she noticed during her many hours by his side. She was hoping it wouldn't become infected but it looked like it had. As she put on new bandages she failed to notice the slight flicker of her patient's eyelids.

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty-Three 


	24. Lost

TITLE: The Unintended

SUMMARY: After a traumatic event onboard a ship in need of rescue, Harper comes away with more than emotional scars.

RATING: PG for mild swearing and some violence, just to be on the safe side.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Sorry for the delay the preview mode thingy wasn't working so I'm doing this in html. Sorry for any mistakes!

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Lost

"This world is not mine. Have I fallen?"

Ruari's waking words

CY 3982

Trance finished putting the fresh bandages on Harper's injured hand and wiped a tear from her eye.

"Trance," Andromeda said, making her jump slightly.

"What is it?" Trance sniffed.

Andromeda, who had been monitoring Harper non-stop, had noticed the flicker of his vitals. "He's waking up," she said.

Sure enough, Harper was stirring. He groaned slightly and Trance put her hand on his arm but his reaction made her withdraw it immediately. It terrified him, as if he hadn't noticed her presence and she had made him jump. Suddenly awake and alert, he sat up and pulled his body away from her as far as the arm and leg restraints would allow him. His eyes darted around as though he was blind and his breathing was erratic.

"Harper, please calm down, you're home!" Trance urged. "Everything's okay now."

Harper looked at her for the first time. Trance's heart broke when she saw the sadness and horror in his eyes. "Oh god no..." was all he uttered before slowly lying back down on the bed. His eyes glazed over and his body went limp.

"Harper?" Trance spoke his name but he wouldn't respond. He was conscious but it seemed he was in a state of shock. "Harper, talk to me."

He could hear Trance's words but they meant nothing to him. He felt paralysed, like he had lost his senses and in their place was an endless void. When Trance touched his arm he had reacted so violently because he hadn't felt anyone else in the room. He could no longer sense the energy of anything. His mind was trapped after being so free and there was nothing could have prepared him for a pain as great as that.

* * *

Despite it being four in the morning, everyone had hurried to med-deck after hearing the news of Harper's wake.

"He's been unresponsive since he reacted to my touch," Trance informed them before they went in. "He's conscious but he's in shock. He just sees right through me, and won't respond to my voice," she added, her personal feelings trying to overcome her professionalism.

It was difficult to tell how each of them were handling the news. Even with two days of preparation they were still struggling to come to terms with what had happened.

"I have to recommend that only one person talks to him at a time. We need to get through to him, not overwhelm him."

"Beka, he'll probably respond more to you," Dylan said. He didn't explain his logic because it was obvious to everyone. Beka was closer to Harper than any of the others. They had been through a lot together.

Beka nodded in response, but she wasn't ready just yet. "Did you figure out how to remove the device from his head?" she asked, stalling for a little longer.

"Not yet," Trance replied. "It's buried pretty deep but since it's deactivated and Harper no longer has his powers, it shouldn't be harmful to him."

Beka still didn't move.

"It's okay, Beka you don't have to go in right away if you're not ready," Dylan assured.

Beka looked up; she had been busted. "No, it's fine. I'll go." She composed herself and entered the room.

It was so quiet. Only a steady beep from one of the monitoring machines could be heard. The AI he had brought from the Nietzschean ship stood silently in the corner. She had proved a useful assistant to Trance over the past couple of days. Harper was lying still on the bed, where he had been for the last two days. She had been to see him frequently, though it pained her to do so. Now he was awake the whole situation seemed entirely different.

Harper looked blankly up at the ceiling, the rest of him lacking any kind of life. As Beka moved over to him, he made no signs of acknowledging her presence. She sat down and realised she hadn't a clue what to say.

After a few moments of extended silence, she finally spoke. "I can't imagine what you're feeling right now..." she began, but regretted sounding like such a cliché. "Harper, do you know where you are? You're on Andromeda, you're safe. The Nietzscheans...some of them, got away on The Barbell. But the important thing is that you're home now and we're all here for you. And when you're ready to come back to us we'll still be here." She wondered if he would be reacting any differently if he wasn't in restraints.

"Maybe there's something Trance can do," she continued. "Something to help with...whatever you're feeling. But you'd have to tell her about it. Could you do that? Talk to her, or me? I can send Tyr in if you'd prefer?" she teased, but still failed to get any reaction. It was clear this was going to take a lot more time. "I'll let you rest. But if you need me I'll be by your side in a second, okay?" With that, she left, unable to see Harper in so much pain any longer.

The others were still outside. "He didn't even know I was there," she told them.

"I expected this wasn't going to happen right away, it's okay Beka.," Trance responded, seeing the hurt evident in the blonde's eyes. "Maybe we should wait a while before trying again. He needs to get used to being back to his old self." She meant, of course, in the physical sense. Trance found it difficult to imagine Harper ever being back to his normal cheery, cocky self ever again.

The others agreed and went back to bed, though none of them expected to get any sleep.

"You should get some rest too, Trance," Andromeda told her as she walked back into med-deck.

"I'm not tired," Trance dismissed.

"Well you need to get out of med-deck. You've been exhausting yourself. At least go to hydroponics and get a change of environment."

Trance sighed. Andromeda was right. She hadn't seen her plants in a while. "Alright." She turned to the AI. "Please monitor the patient for me."

"Command acknowledged," the brown-haired woman confirmed.

"Andromeda, let Harper have some privacy," Trance said before leaving.

"Privacy mode engaged."

The room was quiet again. Harper waited a few minutes before turning to the AI. "Come here.," he said. The woman walked over to his side as instructed. Harper hoped she hadn't been reprogrammed since her arrival onboard. "Undo these restraints."

He had known since he woke up what he had to do.

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty-Four


	25. Gone

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Thank-you hugs and sweets to all those who left comments :D Not quite at the end yet but it's drawing ever nearer...

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE Gone

"Leave this world behind for another

But don't leave your demons behind."

Anon

* * *

Harper walked hastily with a one-track mind. He was well aware that Andromeda would have detected him leaving med-deck but he would be at his quarters before anyone could reach him.

When he first opened his eyes the onslaught on his mind and body was unbearable. At first the waking world was filled with so much pain he actually thought he may have died in Command, and was sent to his own personal hell. When Trance had touched his arm, he was thrust into the waking world with such velocity his mind rejected it. From then he was 'in shock' as Trance called it. Yes, he had heard every word that was said to him. But it was as if he was on a different plain to the others. He heard them on some physical level but his mind was still not accepting the reality it had been plunged back into.

He had experienced unimaginable power and now it had been taken from him. Living with such a loss was agonising. He had already seen what he had to do to end it. His final vision had showed him. Harper made his way to his quarters where his gauss gun lie, and to the end of his suffering.

* * *

Andromeda had alerted the others of Harper's activities as soon as she had become aware of them. Each of them were already on their way to stop him.. Beka had just managed to drift off when Andromeda woke her with the news. If anything was going to wake her, that was it. She leapt out of bed as soon as his name was even mentioned. "Where is he going?"

"It looks like he's headed for his quarters."

Beka had a plethora of questions, like how had Harper broken free of his restraints and where was Trance, but her mouth didn't want to work while her mind was racing with paranoia. Had Harper been waiting for his moment to escape? Waiting to...to what? Why was he going to his quarters? There was an answer that seemed to be nagging at her, but she didn't even want to grace it with consideration. Even so, it was that thought that kept her running.

* * *

Harper made it to his destination but he could hear the footfalls of someone close behind. He stepped through the doors and repeated a security lock-down code, which Andromeda had no choice but to implement.

Beka was out of breath but was the first to arrive just as the doors to Harper's quarters were closing. She managed to slip in before they shut completely. Harper already had the gauss gun in his hand.

"You shouldn't be here," he said, with his back to her.

"I wouldn't be anywhere else," Beka replied, still breathing heavily. She could hear the others had arrived outside. They would probably try to override the security lock-down but knowing Harper, they would have to work at it. "What are you doing?" she asked, knowing full well.

Harper didn't look at her. He wished he could have done this alone but it was her choice to be there. "I knew it was coming but...I didn't know it was going to be this hard." His voice cracked when he spoke and Beka could tell he was starting to cry. "It has to be this way."

"Why?" She was still breathing heavily from her run, and tried to get her mind under control as it raced with fear and worry.

"I was a god and now I'm nothing," he said, loathing what he had come back to. He turned around to face her. His eyes were raw with pain and anger. "You have no idea what it was like, Beka. I could feel everything, I was connected to everything and I had the power to do whatever I wanted. Now...now it hurts just to be awake. All the power in the universe and I lost it...I lost it..."

Beka wasn't sure what to say. She wasn't sure there was anything she could say to make it all better. "It hurts now but...but over time it will be okay, you'll get used to it," she tried, but she could see her words were no consolation to him.

"Do you get used to being without Flash?" he asked through angry tears.

"Honestly? No," Beka answered. "But I'm still here. You don't want to die. And you especially don't want to do it in front of me," she said. She had no game plan, no idea what she was doing. She was running on adrenaline, speaking without careful thought. At this point even stalling him would be a worthy cause.. "Remember when Shyla killed herself? Remember how you felt?"

Harper stared vacantly ahead.

"Do you really want to put me through that? Because I honestly don't think I could handle it," Beka continued. "I know there still a part of you that cares about me, and the others. Because if you were completely gone...you would already be dead by now."

Harper considered it for a moment. He didn't want to put Beka through what he had been through. And it was true, when he had realised Beka was in the room, he could have just pulled the trigger then and there, fulfilling his vision. Instead he had stopped. He shook the thoughts. They didn't matter. "You don't understand...I saw it."

Beka didn't understand. "Saw it?"

"I had...visions. I saw things before they happened. I saw this."

Beka took a moment for the information to sink in. Harper had the ability to see the future? She briefly wondered what else the virus did to him, before returning to the urgent reality of the situation. "So you think you have to do this? You don't, Harper, you can change what happens. You have a choice."

Harper considered her words. His visions hadn't been wrong yet. Could he really change one?

Beka could see he was in two minds. "Knowing the future changes it, right? It's not fate just...something that could happen, a possible future," she said, stepping into Trance's territory.

Harper was more confused than ever before. His eyes scanned the floor, randomly searching for answers. They fell upon the clothes he had been wearing when Shyla killed herself. They were still unwashed, covered in her dried blood. A sudden sadness caught him off-guard. He had become exactly like her. And now Beka had adopted the role he had played. It dawned on him that he didn't want his life to end the same way.

Harper was tired, weak and hurting but Beka was right - there was still something left inside him that told him he didn't want to die.

He fell to his knees. Suddenly exhausted, body wracked with tremors, he began to sob uncontrollably. Beka dropped to the floor too and embraced him, and for a while they just held each other.

"I don't know what to do Beka," he wept openly.

Beka too was crying, both tears of joy and sadness. "You just have to forget," she said. "And keep on surviving."

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty-Five 


	26. What Has Gone Before

TITLE: The Unintended  
DISCLAIMER: I own nowt from Andromeda, I'm just borrowing  
NOTES: Sorry for the tardy update, here's two chapters to make up. The end draws ever near...

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX What Has Gone Before  
"So terrible to forget, so painful to remember."  
Aryana Tibet  
CY 3489

The calm had finally descended after the storm, but life had by no stretch of the imagination gone back to normal. Andromeda had been watching the aftermath of the ordeal. With all her strength as a warship, she was powerless to help her suffering crew. Things were quiet, almost mournful, even though Beka had managed to talk Harper out of killing himself. No-one knew quite how to deal with the situation - the situation being as far-fetched as it was.

Two more days had passed since Harper had awoken, but time seemed to be at a standstill of late. Those who did sleep did so at erratic times and for differing lengths. Harper hadn't slept at all, or spoken much for that matter. No-one blamed him. He had been in med-deck mostly while Trance checked him over. There was little that she could do. When he wasn't in med-deck he had been making light repairs on Andromeda's still healing systems. He also spent some time in the machine shop working on various projects, though Rommie and the others could tell he had lost heart for his work.

Most of Harper's time was spent alone, though as a precaution anything he could use to hurt himself had been taken away - for the time being - and Andomeda had been constantly monitoring him. Occasionally one of the crew would stop by and check on how he was doing. The conversations, if you could call them that, were short and mainly consisted of Dylan of whoever the other party was, trying to get Harper to open up and talk about how he was feeling. But this had proved difficult even before the recent events took place.

Rommie was with him now, in machine shop seven. He was working on the AI doctor. He had named her Anabel but had already started calling her Ana. Harper had discovered that she was quite sophisticated and actually already had the capacity to learn and develop, but over years of neglect and mistreatment most of her mind had been cut off and only her basic knowledge remained.

"Ana, what do you think of me?" Harper asked her after mending some more pathways.

"Human, male, thirty to forty years of - "

"Alright, stop," Harper interrupted. She obviously still needed some work.

The doors to the machine shop slid open and Harper glanced up to see Dylan entering. "How are things going?" he asked, his best attempt at chirpiness falling short.

Harper knew the general question was really meant to be 'how are you doing' but he didn't particularly want to answer that. "Ana's coming along. Still needs work," he replied.  
"Uh-huh," Dylan nodded slightly and there was a short awkward silence. "Trance thinks she might have a way to get the inhibitor out," he said, suddenly remembering his excuse to see Harper.

"Good. I'll go see her when I've finished here."

Another awkward silence fell.

"Are you going to keep this up?"

"Keep what up?" Harper asked, not bothering to look up from his work.

"It's been two days," Dylan told him. "You're going to have to tell someone about what happened sooner or later."

Harper felt his agitation rising. Why couldn't they just leave him to deal with it on his own? "It's over, what does it matter?"

"Aside from the fact the Commonwealth are demanding a situation report, and the fact I need to know what information to give them and what not to give them? How about the fact that not talking about something is not doing you any favours. You can't just keep whatever happened bottled up, it won't turn out well."

Harper jumped from the table, suddenly awash with anger. "You really wanna know?" he snapped. "Well what do you want to hear first, Dylan? Huh? The agony I was in when they activated this thing?" he spat, gesturing to the inhibitor. "The way the Nietzscheans treated me? What it was like being taken over by something that was going to kill me?"

"I didn't mean..." Dylan tried to calm him but Harper wasn't finished.

"Or maybe you'd like to know how I killed half an entire crew just by thinking about it?"

Another silence descended but this time there was enough tension to fill it. Dylan searched for the right thing to say. "The Dovien-Genghis pride are ruthless sadists. They were the bad guys. Besides, everyone knows you weren't yourself when you were on that ship."

"No, that's just it!" he snapped, hitting his fist on the table. "You all think I was out of my mind but I wasn't. I knew what I was doing, I wanted them all to die. To suffer as much as I..." he stopped, not wanting to bring his tortured past into it. "I killed them and I liked it. And I don't regret what I did."

Dylan was taken aback. "Harper, you don't mean that."

"Yes, I do, and that's the problem, right? What kind of a person doesn't even care?"

"Of course you care. Or you wouldn't be asking that question."  
Harper wished he could believe him.

Andromeda interrupted the tense moment. "Captain, I'm receiving a distress call. It went out on all frequencies, audio only."

"I'm on my way," Dylan said, then turned his attention back to Harper. "See Trance. She can tell you more about the procedure for removing the inhibitor." With that he left Harper alone once again.

"He was only trying to help, Harper," Andromeda told him.

Harper looked at the closed door. "I know."

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty-Six 


	27. Unrest

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN Unrest  
"Wings were broken, Heaven fell  
Send the angels back to hell."  
'Ring of Fire' verse 6:7  
CY 1641

* * *

Dylan entered Command, his mind still running over his conversation with Harper. "Okay Rommie, let me hear the distress call."

Andromeda obliged and played the message. Having heard it herself, she knew it wasn't going to get a pleasant response from Dylan. The audio began. A breathless voice, barely distinguishable from the background noise of what sounded like fire burning began to speak. "Help me please...oh god...please, god please he's going to - " The message was cut off.

"Is that the whole message?" Dylan asked, disturbed by what he had heard.

"Affirmative," Andromeda replied. "The message originated from the Thalia system."

"That's near the Dovien system, where the Nietzscheans were headed," Dylan realised, though he was unsure of what that implied.

"It could be coincidence."

"Or it could be a trap," Dylan returned. He dwelled on the possibilities for a moment. "Alright, we don't have much of a choice," he sighed. "But let's assume the worst. Get weapons on standby. Get Beka, Tyr and Rommie here but...don't disturb Trance and Harper," he added. Part of his reasoning was that Trance could be in the middle of an operation and he didn't want to disturb her. The other part was to keep Harper from knowing they could be going to face the remaining Nietzschean crew.

* * *

Harper arrived in med-deck with Ana in tow. He had mixed feelings about going to get the inhibitor removed. It should have been an easy decision. After all, it served as a constant reminder of what he had been through, and what he had lost - not that he particular needed another one. But there was also the matter of going under the knife. Harper had never liked medical procedures, even if someone he trusted like Trance was performing it. 

Trance smiled when she saw Harper. She was glad to have him back, despite the conditions it had been under. Unlike the others, she didn't want to push him into talking about anything he didn't want to. However, he seemed to be looking worse than he had when she saw him earlier. "Did you see Dylan?"

"Yeah I saw him." Harper walked over and sat down on the bed at the far side of the room. He deliberately didn't sit on the same bed he had woken up on two days ago. Just looking at it brought back the memory of waking up and finding his powers had left him.

"Are you okay?" Trance questioned. He probably got a lot of that lately, but there was no surprise there.

"Yeah, I'm good," Harper replied automatically.

"Are you sure? If you're worried about the procedure to get the inhibitor out, it's a simple procedure," Trance explained, laying out some equipment. "I just had to create a few new tools to work with." She noticed Harper wasn't really concentrating. The room probably brought back memories. "And clearly that's not what you were worried about."

Harper noticed Trance's tone and shook the daydream he had slipped into. "Sorry I was thinking about...sorry."  
For a moment Trance thought he was about to open up, but once again her hopes were quickly dashed. "That's okay." She smiled and decided to keep things light. "How's Ana doing?"

"Okay," Harper answered. "I've been teaching her the basics, the layout of the ship, people names and stuff but I can't seem to get her to expand her personality. I've been trying to get her to understand that she has choices, emotions, knows right from wrong but...it's just not working."

Trance was pleased Harper had something to concentrate on other than recuperating. Working on Ana allowed him to work with his hands again, something he had to get used to again after having such advanced mental abilities. Whether he knew it or not that was a big part of his recovery. "Well Rommie didn't develop her personality overnight. It took time," Trance told him.

"I know, but I've been working on her non-stop, I'd just like some sign that she's actually taking any of it in." Harper sighed looking at Ana, who was standing in the corner, not doing much of anything. "So this procedure..." he said, returning to the reason he was there. "Will it hurt?"

"Of course not," Trance assured. She was well aware of Harper's dislike of pretty much any kind of medical operation. "It's actually so safe it's best if you stay awake during the procedure."

"You're going to be digging something out of my brain and you want me to stay awake?"

"You'll have the proper anaesthetic," the golden alien replied obviously. "You can trust me, you know that, right?" she said more seriously.

"Yeah I know," Harper told her. "Alright so...when is this going to happen?"

Trance finished setting up. "I can start as soon as you're ready."

Harper taken unawares. "What, like, now?"

"Whenever you're ready," Trance repeated.

"Gimme a couple of minutes?"

"Take as long as you need."

* * *

Tyr was the last to arrive in Command after being briefed on the situation. He wasn't happy about the possibility of walking into a trap but on a on the other hand he did have the urge to find the remainders of the Dovien-Genghis pride and rip them to shreds. No enemies got away from Tyr Anasazi alive. 

Beka was just pulling out slipstream as Tyr took the weapons station.

"We're on the outskirts of the Thalia system. The distress call is no longer being transmitted," Andromeda reported.

"Any sign of the origin?" Dylan asked, his nerves still on end as he prepared for the worst.

"A ship is within sensor range...It's The Barbell. She's dead in space. Minimal power readings and..." Andromeda paused.

Rommie, who was checking the readouts simultaneously was just as swayed by what she saw. "Captain...you're not going to believe this," Rommie told him, in disbelief herself. "There's only one lifesign onboard."

Dylan knew bad things came in threes but this was ridiculous.

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty-Seven 


	28. Full Circle

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: Thanks for the feedback as usual and to jenben, I always like hearing your thoughts. True, it's no walk in the park for Harper, I just love putting the boy through hell >:D Only three more chapters to go after this one though (I know it just seems to go on and oooonnnn) so it will be over soon one way or the other ;)

CHAPTER TWENTY- EIGHT Full Circle

"You cannot escape the past, all you can do is try and stay two steps ahead."

Sulya Mentis Re

CY 8349

* * *

Andromeda crept towards The Barbell at a snail's pace. The ship was dead. Only the dim glow from a far off sun and Andromeda's external lights highlighted her free-floating form. 

"This is very bad," Beka stated.

Dylan wanted to make sure they knew what they were walking into. "Alright. What are the chances this is a trap?"

"I don't think it's likely," Rommie replied. "They were the ones who ran from us. For all they know Harper is dead, there's no reason for them to lure us here."

"So the most likely possibility is that this is the same scenario as before. Someone has contracted the virus and..."

"Killed everyone else onboard," Tyr finished.

* * *

"Trance, are you free to talk?" 

Trance moved to the other side of the room. "Go ahead, Dylan," she replied quietly.

"We need to know if there's a possibility Harper infected anyone else while onboard The Barbell or the Nietzschean ship."

Trance was instantly worried. "Why, what's going on?"

"We've found The Barbell. There's only one lifesign onboard," Dylan replied grimly.

There was silence as Trance took in the news. "Alright...I'll find out."

Harper could tell something was wrong just by looking at her.

"Harper...is there any chance you might have infected someone else with the virus?"

"What? No...why? What's wrong? Is something happening?"

"Nothing's wrong, it's just important that we know, so we can be prepared for any possibility."

Harper shook his head. There was no sense trying to lie to someone who was already paranoid. "No, there's something you're not telling me. What is it, Trance?"

Trance sighed. Vagueness and skirting around subjects was her area of expertise, not outright lying. "We're in the same system as The Barbell."

"And you think someone onboard could have the virus?" Harper asked carefully.

A thought suddenly occurred to Trance. "When we brought you back onboard I had to re-bandage your hand."

Harper looked down at his bandaged hand with worrying realisation. "No...no, it's not possible," he insisted, though there the seeds of doubt were growing inside him. "Everyone I came into contact with...I killed them."

Trance wasn't exactly happy with the explanation on any count.

* * *

"Dylan? Harper doesn't think there's a chance someone contracted the virus. But I suppose even residual traces of blood could have been - " 

"Hold that thought Trance," Dylan interrupted. Something was going on over at The Barbell.

"There's a slipfighter exiting The Barbell."

"Seems our lone survivor doesn't like being lonely. Open a com-link," Dylan ordered. Rommie nodded when it was done. "This is Dylan Hunt of the Andromeda Ascendant, identify yourself immediately."

"No response. They're heading for one of the docking bays."

"Don't let them in. I repeat, identify yourself or you will be considered hostile."

There was nothing but silence.

"Okay, it's either a psychopathic killer with terrifying mental powers in there, or a mime. Either way I say we get shooting," Beka said, sitting in the pilot's chair.

Tyr was the first to agree. Of course, he was manning the weapons and had a fondness of blowing things up, but Beka took what we she could get.

The slipfighter was drawing ever closer as Dylan watched it on the viewscreen. "Even though this isn't down to a vote, I think - "

He didn't get a chance to finish, because Andromeda stopped him. "Captain, there's something's wrong. I can't..."

Things went from bad to worse when the lights began to flicker and systems around them began to power down.

"Rommie, what's going on?" Dylan demanded.

"All system's have been powered down but I can't find the cause.," she replied. "Hang on...no, it can't be...someone's remotely jacked into my mainframe!"

"Remotely jacked in? That's impossible!"

"A remote connection isn't even possible unless you're me," Rommie said irately. "Wait...the hangar doors are opening, it must be whoever's in the slipfighter. I'm cut off from my core. There's nothing I can do."

* * *

Trance was talking Harper through the procedure to remove his inhibitor when the lights cut out and everything went dead. They had both found emergency lighting stashed in the corner compartment. 

"Andromeda? What's going on?" Trance asked, but got no answer.

"Rommie? Dylan? Can anyone hear me?" Harper tried, to no avail. "I don't like this," he said. It was an understatement. "What the hell is going on? Is it The Barbell?"

Trance tried to leave but the doors wouldn't open. The panic in the room was rising with every second.

The pilot of the slipfighter exited the hangar and strode through the ship. Andromeda was helpless to resist. Her every system was at the intruder's command.

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty-Eight 


	29. On and On

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: The end is nigh! I'll post the final two chapters together, in the meantime, enjoy this installment.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE On and On

"There are answers, but none you want to hear."

Jakaryn's infamous trial

CY 19284

* * *

"What's happening! Why won't the doors open?" Harper asked frantically. He was panicking because he felt weak. He had been stronger than he ever thought possible and now he had that strength taken away, he felt utterly defenceless.

Trance wanted to tell him to be calm but it was difficult seeing as she was on the verge of panic herself. Harper didn't know what she knew - that there was only one survivor on The Barbell. It made her shiver thinking that someone with the same powers that drove Harper mad and allowed him to kill so many people could be coming their way.

* * *

In Command Dylan, Tyr, Rommie and Beka were in a similar state. Rommie had lost the connection with her grander self and had no information to put the others at ease.

"The door is sealed, Rommie can you open it?" Dylan asked her. Whoever had control of Andromeda was already onboard.

Rommie concentrated for a moment and sure enough the doors slid open. "It seems systems I'm close to still respond to my influence," she announced as they headed out the doors. No sooner were they through, they had to leap straight back after the internal defences activated.

"This is not going well!" Dylan said through gritted teeth as he pulled himself from the floor.

"Whoever is remotely jacked in still has control of my systems," Rommie said, helping Beka up. "I'll try and deactivate the internal defences but he or she is in my core. They have the more power over me."

"Just do it, we need to get to med-deck as soon as possible," Dylan told her.

"Med-deck?" Tyr questioned. "How do you know the intruder is heading there?"

"Because I just figured out why they would want to."

* * *

Trance was at a loss. "We have to get out of here. We need weapons, we have to protect ourselves," she rambled. She remembered she kept a force lance stashed in one of the cabinets just in case.

"You know who's coming don't you?" Harper asked solemnly.

Trance got the force lance and looked up at him with guilt evident on her expression. "The Barbell...there was only one survivor onboard."

A high-strung silence descended upon them. Harper felt a fear he hadn't felt since the Magog attack. When he knew his worst nightmare was coming to find him.

"Maybe Ana can open the door," Trance suddenly thought aloud.

"I don't know if she's ready to connect to Andr-" Harper stopped mid-sentence. He looked at Trance and knew she had heard it too. A door opening, down the corridor.

Trance lowered her voice to a barely audible whisper. "It could be Dylan or one of the others..."

Harper stared at the door, terrified of what might be behind it, rooted to the spot. By the looks of it, Trance was feeling the same way. Ana was still standing in the corner hardly reacting to the situation. Trance envied her. The three of them were deathly quiet as they strained to hear any sound from outside. The doors in the corridor slid closed, and then there were soft footsteps. They grew gradually louder until they were right outside the door and then they stopped. No-one drew breath.

* * *

Getting through the ship was proving to be difficult. As Dylan and the others moved towards med-deck they had to stop each time they came across an internal defence station so Rommie could deactivate them. Unfortunately she could only do this one at a time and had to keep her concentration locked on the task for as long as the others needed to get through.

They were decks away from Harper and Trance and each of them knew they wouldn't make it in time, but they had no choice but to keep on moving.

* * *

Trance held the force lance ready to fire on whoever came through the door, but they didn't open. Instead it was something that happened in the room that scared her out of her wits.

In a burst of movement Harper grabbed his head and stumbled backwards, crashing into the shelves behind him. The look on his face was one of agony and Trance knew that somehow the inhibitor had been activated. Forgetting whatever danger outside she rushed to his side but was unable to do anything to help. All she could do was watch in horror as Harper convulsed on the floor, still conscious, as the inhibitor sent constant streams of pain through his body. His back was arched and his hands clung to his head trying to get some kind of relief but there was none.

Trance ran to the cabinets on the other side of the room to get some pain medication. It was all she could think of to do. She set the force lance down and got a syringe, but there wasn't time to get back over to Harper. The doors to med-deck opened.

"You must be Trance."

Trance was shocked and dropped the syringe. "I know you...you were on The Barbell, you're one of Taylor's men," she remembered, terrified.

"Taylor doesn't have men anymore. They're dead. And so is he," he said. "Arion Rayne, at your service."

Trance's gaze flicked to Harper for a moment. He was back into a corner, still very much in pain. "You turned on the inhibitor."

"Well done my dear," Rayne said, moving further into the room. "I happened to have a spare controller lying around, thought I'd bring it along."

"Turn it off, now!" Trance demanded, though she would have sounded more authoritative if her voice hadn't been trembling with fear.

"I don't think so," the madman denied. He had backed Trance against the wall. His eyes were filled with the same rage and emptiness that she had seen in Harper's. "Tell me what I want to know," he said, his gaze piercing into her. "Give me the cure."

* * *

End of Chapter Twenty-Nine 


	30. After You

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

NOTES: As promised, here are the final chapters. Huge thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, it made it all worth while. It's been a long one but I've enjoyed writing it, I hope you've enjoyed reading it :D

CHAPTER THIRTY After You

"The bad shit is never really over. It's usually just trying to find you again."

Avan Trex - Diary of a Thief

CY 23490

* * *

"I said, give me the cure," Rayne repeated through gritted teeth.

"Th...there isn't one, there isn't a cure!" Trance insisted. "Please, just turn off the inhibitor, you'll kill him!" Harper was still in tremendous pain but he was still conscious - for now.

Rayne ignored her request. "Don't lie to me, I know you were working on one, you wouldn't want your precious crewmember to go insane would you?"

"I didn't find a cure, the virus goes away on its own!"

Rayne laughed. "You expect me to believe that?"

"It's the truth, it was the withdrawal that killed the people on The Outset."

"You know it's a funny thing. When I realised I was infected with the virus I didn't know what to expect. I read a few reports, observed some symptoms for myself but I never anticipated what I got. Isn't that always the way?" Rayne grabbed Trance by the throat. "I found that I could manipulate technology, get inside and control it. I was quite pleased. Turned out that wasn't all I could do." He tightened his grip as Trance struggled and stared into her eyes. She could feel his mind invading her own, reaching in and searching for information; information that wasn't there. The more she fought the more it hurt and the pain grew more intense as Rayne continued to search.

Behind him Ana was watching the scene play out, thoughts and feelings occurring inside her she didn't understand. She looked at the alien, Trance whom she had learned about. Her life readings were not good, and they were getting worse. She then looked at Harper, the one who had taught her a lot in the past few days. He too was suffering, and all due to the stranger. Something inside her was insisting she could not allow this man to continue endangering lives. She acted upon her new instincts and moved in to stop him.

Trance was about to lose consciousness when Rayne was grabbed from behind and hurled across the room. Trance's legs gave way underneath her as Rayne hit the closed doors. Ana stood between the two in a protective stance.

* * *

Dylan and the others were still trying desperately to reach med-deck when lights and systems began to come back online all over the ship. Andromeda's image appeared to them.

"I've regained control, I don't know how long for. I'll clear the way, just hurry."

They didn't need to be told twice and started running as Andromeda opened the doors in their path.

"What's the situation in med-deck?" Beka asked.

"The intruder is sealed in there with Harper, Trance and Ana."

"Are they alright?"

"Both Trance and Harper's lifesigns have been fluctuating."

* * *

Harper was barely aware of what was happening around him through the blinding pain. But when he heard Trance yell out a part of him knew he had to fight harder than ever before to focus. He was soon awake enough to see Ana pull Rayne off Trance and throw him across the room. "Ana!" He managed to choke out a few words. "Destroy it...the controller..."

Ana, instead of blindly following orders she _chose_ to obey Harper's command. It was a difference she was eager to investigate more. She grabbed Rayne's arms and pulled him to his feet. He was still dazed as she searched him. A small device fell from his jacket, but Rayne wasn't going to give in that easily.

"Oh look," he said with a twisted smile. "What an intriguing piece of technology."

Ana suddenly found herself unable to move. Then her arms dropped down to her sides without her wishing it. She felt her power supply begin to build-up. Her systems were overloading. Ripples of electricity surged through her, faster and faster but she wouldn't let go. She had just tasted free will and she wasn't about to let someone take it away from her. Summoning what was left of her strength, she clenched her fist and struck Rayne across his smug face. Then she fell to her knees and picked up the controller, allowing the electricity still rushing through her to destroy the device.

Harper's body was finally free from the pain, though it still reverberated through him. He forced himself to keep his eyes open, because he knew that if he didn't, he'd never open them again. He gathered even breath to get Rayne's attention. "Why couldn't you just stay dead you son of a bitch!"

A very angry Rayne turned to see Harper leaning on the wall. "If you had killed me perhaps I would have," he replied bitterly. "Your mistake. I was close to death but not close enough. The Nietzscheans took me with them when they evacuated." He smiled. "Their mistake."

"You killed them all then." Harper wasn't exactly sure where he was taking the conversation. He didn't have a plan further than giving Trance and Ana time to recover. He could use some of that himself.

Truth be told, Rayne was in a similar situation. He had found no cure within Trance's mind, and that was as far as his own plan went. For now his attention was solely on Harper. "Don't tell me you're sorry. You killed just as many."

Harper remained on the floor, as his body seemed to have given up on him. "What about Taylor? You kill him too?"

Rayne's expression turned sour. "He tried to give me an inhibitor of my own when I started acting up. I couldn't have that."

Harper started laughing. He wasn't sure why. Maybe the absurdity of the situation had finally occurred to him. Whatever the reason, Rayne didn't seem to share the same feelings.

"I don't know what you find so amusing. If there's no cure I have no reason to keep any of you alive," he mocked, but it failed to have the desired effect. Every second Trance was recovering behind him.

"Yeah, so you're going to kill us all, and then what?" Harper asked, unthreatened. "You're gonna lose all your power and then you're going to kill yourself."

Rayne had no retort, but denial soon came to his aid. "If there's no cure why are you still alive? Why would I commit suicide when a miserable kludge like you didn't?"

Harper saw Trance holding the gun and looked Rayne straight in the eye. "Because there's no-one around who gives a damn enough to talk you out of it."

Trance fired three shots.

* * *

End of Chapter Thirty 


	31. Ever Again

TITLE: The Unintended

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Andromeda series, I'm just borrowing.

SPOILERS: Angel Dark, Demon Bright

NOTES: The quote is from Tug of War by Nikka Costa - it fit better than anything I could make up.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE Ever Again

"Cut to the truth and watch it bleed

And in the wounds just what we need

It's everywhere if we dare

To trust the fall to lead us there."

Earth lyric

* * *

Harper watched Rayne fall to the floor dead. He was definitely dead this time - there were three new holes in his chest to prove it. Harper exhaled sharply, almost amused. He let his head fall back against the wall and closed his eyes. He wasn't going to sleep, just rest. He had slept enough. Trance dropped the gun and swayed a little, still dizzy from the attack on her mind. She had every intention of seeing to Harper but her legs didn't agree and collapsed underneath her. 

The doors to med-deck slid open. Three very out of breath people and one android burst in with weapons drawn. They took in the scene before going to help their fallen crewmen.

"Hey guys, whatever happened to getting here 'in the nick of time'?" Harper jested wearily.

Rommie crouched down beside Rayne's body while Dylan helped Trance to her feet.. "Isn't this..."

"Rayne," Harper replied. "Taylor's second. He had the virus, don't touch his blood."

Tyr, standing over the body, was sorry that he wasn't the one to end the vile man's life. He would have liked that opportunity. Nevertheless, he was dead now and that was good enough.

"He wanted a cure. He tried to...tried to take it from my mind," Trance told them. Her head still ached from the invasion. "We have to destroy every trace of that virus. Nothing good can come from it," she said seriously.

"It's okay, we will," Dylan assured, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Beka carefully stepped over Rayne and came down to Harper's level. She stroked his hair which was caked in sweat. "You okay kiddo?"

"Never better." Harper smiled at her without opening his eyes. "Although if you happen to have a big stack of painkillers lying around, I wouldn't say no."

"I'll see what I can do, come on," she said with a smiled, pulling him up.

"We'll set you up somewhere temporary until this place can get decontaminated," Dylan declared.

Harper pulled away from Beka's steadying hand to kneel by Ana.

"What happened to her?" Rommie asked. There were only so many things that caused an AI to stop moving and none of them were very pleasant.

"She saved us," Trance said. She spoke like Ana was dead, but Harper wasn't going to give up that easily. It was nothing that he couldn't fix. "I need to get her back online. God knows what that bastard did to her." Harper realised what he was thinking - thinking about using his tools and his hands to fix Ana. For a moment it seemed like he remembered who he was before things got crazy. Before he got crazy. It was the first time he had felt normal since his return.

"I'll start making an damage assessment," Rommie offered, knowing Harper didn't need to be working after such an ordeal. "You should rest."

Harper realised he was too tired to argue. Now it was finally over he could sleep again knowing he would not only wake up, but wake up to people who still cared about him no matter what he had done.

"I'll need to test everyone onboard for the virus, just to be safe.," Trance declared, the pain finally beginning to disperse.

"We'll get right on it, but both of you are getting a break. Let us worry about cleaning up, alright?"

Trance nodded as Dylan led her out of the room, the others in tow. Harper took one last look at Rayne's lifeless body before the doors to med-deck slid shut behind them.

* * *

Two hours later and the clean-up was complete. There was nothing left of the virus, the crew were given the all-clear for the tests. Beka strolled into Command where Tyr was manning the stations. 

"Well, that's the last of the tests back," Beka announced. "No traces of the virus anywhere. It's over and done with, and not a moment too soon. I don't know if I could stand anymore of that...insanity."

"Insanity is right," Tyr said pointedly. Beka sensed a disagreement coming on. "Are we just supposed to forget about the massacre of who knows how many Nietzscheans?"

"He wasn't himself," Beka stated. It felt like she had been repeating it to herself like a mantra since Harper got back.

"From what I hear, he was," Tyr returned.. "And that is the what concerns me." He was referring to his and Dylan's chat after Harper's admission of the absence of guilt

Beka was getting agitated. "So what are you saying? That Harper would have been going around killing Nietzscheans long before now if he had the power?"

Tyr shrugged slightly. "It's not the first time. Need I remind you of the Battle of Witchhead? He had no qualms about wiping out 100,000 people then."

"I think that was a little different," Beka said, shaking her head.

"Was it?" Tyr pushed.

Beka threw her hands in the air. "Yes! We had to use Harper's device to set history right. We all made that decision, not just Harper," she reminded him, intent on defending Harper all the way.

"As I recall Harper didn't plan on telling us about his device and was only by chance that we found out about it."

"So what?" Beka was getting short of ideas to halt the argument. Why did Tyr always have to have the last word? "Harper's always hated Nietzscheans, it's no secret. Can you blame him? Can you honestly say that if your whole species was tortured by another for years on end that you'd be fine with it?" she tried, going down another line of defence.

"Perhaps not" Tyr submitted. "But hating a species is one thing. Killing them mindlessly is another. When we found the Dovien-Genghis ship you saw what we all saw on that screen; the bloodbath inches from his feet. I know it affected you. I saw it in your eyes."

At that point Dylan entered Command, though the others didn't hear him.

"The Dovien-Genghis pride were nothing more than vicious pirates," Beka argued. "You have no idea what they did to him over there."

"Neither do you" Tyr countered. "Wouldn't it be apt to find out?"

Beka was quiet for a moment. She looked back at the console in front of her. "He's been through enough," she said quietly. "He doesn't need to relive it just so we can feel better about ourselves."

"Perhaps the reason you don't want to ask the questions is that you are afraid of the answers."

"Alright, that's enough," Dylan interrupted. "Do I need to remind you of what happened only two hours ago? This can wait for a more appropriate time. Right now we are going to get some sleep. I don't know about you guys but I am not prone to being awake for longer than a day at a time."

Beka knew he was right, and not just about the sleep thing. But before she would be getting any rest she did need to see Harper. Though she wouldn't admit it, Tyr was right. She was afraid to ask the questions, for fear Harper would confirm what she dreaded. But fear never stopped a Valentine.

Tyr wasn't one to turn down a break when it was offered so he followed Beka out of Command. Beka, intent of having the last word, stopped him with her hand. "Harper may have killed a few bad guys but he didn't hurt us. He saved us. You included. Just remember that."

* * *

Beka stood outside Harper's quarters debating whether or not to go in. Fear never stopped a Valentine but it sure did make them hesitate a lot. She shook it off for long enough to knock on the door. 

"Just a second," Harper called.

Beka composed herself while Harper moved around behind the doors. "Hey," she said when they opened.

"Hey. What's up?" Harper asked, looking slightly awkward.

Beka wasn't surprised; their relationship was bound to be a little awkward for a while. "Oh nothing much. I just came to see how you were doing," Beka lied. But she supposed she shouldn't go ahead with her questions until she was sure he was up to it.

Harper shrugged. "Okay, I guess."

Beka nodded slowly. At least it hadn't been his patented 'I'm good' remark.

"Uh, you wanna come in?" Harper asked when the thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Oh, yeah, sure."

It wasn't so much a silence as a few very long pauses strung together. Every time one of the two thought of something to say, they would hold back. Beka eventually couldn't stand it any longer. They were friends. More than that. They had been together for far too long to be descending into awkward silences now. "I need to know what happened," she blurted out.

Harper wasn't following, or at least he pretended he wasn't. "What happened...when?"

"Since the beginning."

Harper sighed. He was afraid that's what she meant."Beka..."

"I need to hear it, Harper," she stopped him, mid-complaint. "It might be a selfish thing to ask and I know it's gotta be hard for you but...I really need to hear it if I'm going to work out how I feel."

Harper considered her words. They made sense. Besides, who was he to deny her her peace? If he couldn't find his, Beka should at least have a chance at finding hers. So he told her what she wanted to know. It was strange seeing her reactions to it all. Harper expected her to run out the room crying or look horrified at the details but she just sat there and listened.

"It was like I was so much more than I am now," Harper continued. "So much better, I...it was like nothing I ever imagined I could feel. And I can't imagine ever feeling that way again. Which is good, right? It means I'm going to forget."

Harper realised when he had finished the story that Beka was the only person onboard he could imagine telling it to. If it had been anyone else he would have told them to take a hike. It could have been due to the fact that Beka was the one person most likely to forgive him. In that respect, Harper realised how much was riding on her trusting him again. If she didn't, no-one would.

Beka was quiet while she took it all in. Harper seemed a little unsure but at least he was making sense of things. And that, for now, was good enough. "Thank-you for telling me.

"Thanks for listening. Actually feels kinda good to be getting it all off my chest, you know? Telling the story means it's over, right?"

"Right," Beka reassured. "Every trace of the virus has been destroyed. The Outset, the Nietzschean ship, The Barbell, they're all gone. Rayne is dead, and you're free from it. There's nothing left. It's over."

Harper considered that fact for a moment. He supposed it hadn't really sunk in, not even after Rayne was dead (again). It had felt like forever since the madness began. "It is, isn't it?" He smiled faintly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Beka returned his smile. It was a relief to see it. "Night," she said, and left for her quarters.

Harper stood still for a while wondering if he actually believed a word he had just told Beka. He sighed. He didn't have to make the decision now. There was no sense in destroying them when he hadn't decided either way. There would be plenty of time. Harper carefully folded the clothes stained with Shyla's blood and put them in an airtight container. He placed the container in a compartment in the wall. For safekeeping.

* * *

END 

That's your lot ;)


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